Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin
by Dawn Semetra
Summary: What if the 'power he knows not' was something even Dumbledore could not hope to guess. After all, the wizards are not the only ones keeping their world a secret. Everything changes when Harry happens upon a glowing amulet in the middle of a rock pile one summer. Story begins in the summer before 5th year. Trollhunter!Harry
1. And so it begins

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this, and I merely am playing in their sandbox.**

Hello FanFiction readers! I'd like to welcome you all to the very first fan fiction story I've ever written, let alone published. Actually I went back and forth about whether I should actually post it, however finally I decided there was really no reason for me not to. I had noticed a while back that there were no crossovers in this particular category while I was looking for a new story to read and that struck me as odd. Then, before I knew it, I was writing one myself!

Now, I don't think that there is any real need to have watched the Trollhunters tv show, as this story mostly focuses on Harry, however I am sure there will be spoilers for both Harry Potter up to Book 5 and Trollhunters so please keep that in mind. Also, this story shouldn't have anything too mature, besides the occasional curse word, and fighting. Nothing however should be much worse than what has appeared in Harry Potter and Trollhunters. Rating this story 'Teen' might be overkill honestly, compared to other stories that I have seen on this site. Also, please keep in mind that since this is a crossover, I have taken certain liberties with the characters and certain concepts in order to merge the two more flawlessly and to help develop plot. I hope that I have been able to keep the characters mostly in character, however over time, they may begin to develop in different ways than they did in their original stories.

As for the progress of this story, I already have book one completely plotted out and the first couple of chapters finished, so I should remain on time for updates which I expect will be around once or twice a week. I have no beta however, so please forgive any grammar errors I might overlook.

 _Without further ado, lets jump into the story!_

 _._

 _._

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

 **Chapter 1:** _And so it begins…_

The hot afternoon sun glared down on Harry Potter as he sat in the dappled shade of the trees in a small park. It had been less than a month since he had returned to the Dursley's for summer break and it thus far had been almost unbearable. Every time he shut his eyes, and even sometimes while he was awake, his mind was tormented with the events that had transpired in the graveyard only a few weeks ago.

He had tried multiple times to reach out to Hermione and Ron, but they seemed determined not to talk to him. All he had received from them so far were short little responses that did nothing to tell him what was happening in the Wizarding World, nor did they do any good at taking his mind away from the dark topics it always tended to return to. Of course, Sirius would always readily respond to his letters, but he too seemed very cautious about how much information he revealed. Dumbledore it seemed, was determined to ignore Harry this summer. He had not even taken the time to respond to a single one of Harry's letters asking for information. Harry, however, was pretty sure that Dumbledore was having someone keep an eye on him, seeing as he had been getting the feeling all summer that he was being watched.

His relatives had actually been tolerable so far this summer, so he supposed that was a plus. Well, he amended, they had been tolerable in the fact that they seemed to be avoiding him, and did not seem to care what he did, so long as his list of chores were done on time every day and he did not attract any of the neighbors' attention. Since sleep brought nightmares, and chores were a way to take his mind off his depressed thoughts, the daily list of chores he received was something he almost found himself looking forward to.

It was sad really.

Harry knew he needed to snap out of his funk, and start being proactive. But how? Voldemort was back, his friends and allies in the Wizarding World wouldn't let him help or even keep him updated on what was going on, and finally, he was stuck with relatives that hated him. What could an almost 15 year old kid hope to do in his circumstances?

Beyond completing his summer homework, Harry had _tried_ to review the material from previous school years. Honestly he had, but eventually he gave up. While Harry knew he was above average smart, he was not Hermione. He was much better at learning from doing rather than from reading books, its why he excelled at Defense against the Dark Arts as much as he did. After all, he did seem to get plenty of hands on practice in DADA, despite three out of four of the classes' professors being horrible. Unfortunately, since doing magic outside of Hogwarts was not allowed, he couldn't exactly work on the practical side of magic. He didn't dare attempt to brew potions outside of class either, lest he accidentally blew up his room. Something told him that that wouldn't exactly please his relatives.

Thus, Harry spent the majority of his afternoons/evenings in the neighborhood park, sitting amongst the trees, lost in his thoughts. He would often either pack a lunch, or buy a sandwich out so that he could skip having dinner with his relatives and not return to their home until dark. Sometimes Dudley's gang would come and taunt him, but he mostly ignored them and with a few thinly veiled threats, Dudley would typically get his peers to leave him alone. Both Dudley and his peers were far more keen on beating up the younger kids they happened upon in the play area of the park anyways. Easier targets, Harry supposed.

' _Harry…'_

Harry blinked and looked around, as a soft breeze ruffled his hair. He could have sworn he had heard his name, however now he wasn't so sure. He was completely alone in this area of the park with only the birds above for company. Perhaps he was finally going crazy. That honestly wouldn't surprise him after all he had been through. Giving a small chuckle, Harry leaned his cheek against the coarse bark of the tree he was currently propped up against and closed his eyes.

' _Harry… Potter…'_

Harry's eyes sprung open and he quickly stood up. He reached for his wand before realizing he wasn't carrying it. Since coming home to his relatives, he had taken to only carrying it around about half of the time. It wasn't like he was really allowed to use magic outside of school anyways. Besides, he felt it was safer stashed below the broken floorboard in his room. It was where he kept all his most precious belongings. That way none of his relatives could find them and steal them from him. Now he realized just how dangerous it could be for him to wander around without the wand for protection. Cursing his stupidity, Harry cautiously walked in the direction the voice seemed to be coming from.

"Hello?" he called in a hushed tone as he crept forward, "If this is some sort of a joke, Dudley…" he trailed off as he stepped out of the trees and noticed a pile of rocks. It was partly shaded by the trees from the late afternoon sun and seemed entirely out of place amongst the fields that lay beyond for football practice. Even more out of place was the unnatural blue glow that seemed to permeate from the center of the rock pile. He stepped forward until his feet were inches from the rocks and peered into the pile.

' _Harry. Potter.'_

With a yelp, Harry fell back onto his butt. Taking a moment to compose himself, Harry moved forward and began to shift the rocks to uncover what seemed to be both calling for him and emitting the strange blue light. With a final heavy rock shifted away, Harry saw it. A pristine glowing circular object, which was about the size of his palm sat innocently before him. Carefully, Harry reached forward and picked it up, turning it over in his hands.

It was an odd artifact, that was for sure. The center of the relic was defiantly where the blue glow had been coming from, as it seemed to glow with something otherworldly and almost alive. In front of the blue glare was a metal dial of some sort that was designed in a style he did not recognize. Further, on the forefront of the dial, was a picture of some sort of creature, however it was not something he could recall ever hearing about from his time in the wizarding world. Perhaps the most eye catching were the glowing runes that were etched around the edge of the dial. Not for the first time, Harry cursed his decision to take Divination instead of a more useful class like Ancient Runes.

"What are you?" Harry muttered to himself, as his eyebrows knitted together in focus.

"Who are you talking to, freak?"

Dudley's voice behind him caused Harry to spin around, quickly standing up and shoving his find into his back pocket. Luckily, neither Dudley nor his rat-faced friend Piers, who stood by his side seemed to notice what he had done.

"What does it matter to you Dudley?" Harry countered, a touch of indignation seeping into his tone. While he was loath to admit it, Harry was enjoying being able to channel his frustration at the other boys. Besides, he knew Dudley was too afraid of what he could do to actually dare lay a hand on him.

"Hey! Watch your mouth!" Piers chimed in, taking a step forward, "Big D asked you a question! So you'd best answer it!"

"Why should I answer anything that pig asks? And _'Big D'_? Really?" Harry snapped back, His eyes flicked from Piers to Dudley, and he noticeably reached into his pocket, pretending to grab his wand. Dudley's face paled, and Harry smirked inwardly. _Too easy._

"Y-you aren't allowed to use that thing here!"

"What thing?" Piers asked, glancing over at Dudley.

"Yeah," Harry chimed in, "What thing, Dudley?"

"Never mind." Dudley huffed. "Come on. The freak is not worth our time. I mean just look at him. I could blow on him and he would fall over. Hardly a fun fight." With that, Dudley turned and started heading over towards the play area of the park, not even granting Harry a final glare. Piers looked between Dudley and Harry before finally stalking after his leader with the other boys following closely behind.

Harry watched them go with a long stare, before finally dropping his gaze to the ground. Dudley had certainly gotten the last word of that argument, but with a sense of triumph Harry felt relatively certain that it was more of a tactical retreat than anything else. That meant that he won right? "And I'm not that skinny!" Harry huffed to himself.

Oh, who was he kidding. Harry knew he was far below average for his age, and while he had defiantly built up endurance and reflexes from all the 'Harry Hunting' of his youth, and some muscle tone from both playing quidditch and the recent tournament, he was far from being in the best shape. It wasn't like it was his fault though! Most of his issues lay with the malnourishment that he had suffered as a child. Nowadays, even though his relatives still only gave him the bare minimum, he was able to buy any extra food he needed. After second year, he always made sure to convert some extra galleons to pounds when he went every year to buy his books. That way he would have a little spending money for the following summer. He was pretty sure that it was his most brilliant idea to date. Granted he hadn't actually bought much extra food this summer, as his moody state tended to keep the hunger at bay.

 _Perhaps it would be a good idea to get into better shape_. Harry thought to himself. After all, it was something he could do that he couldn't get into trouble for. Granted, wizards didn't seem to have any interest in exercising and he wasn't sure it would actually help in a wizarding style duel, but it couldn't hurt right? Besides, if anyone asked, he could always claim he was just gearing up for the quidditch season. That would save him the embarrassment of explaining that he was exercising simply because he was so desperate for some thing to do.

Decision made, Harry nodded to himself before he sat down and attempted to do a push-up.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." He groaned from where he now lay on the grassy earth.

~HP~HP~HP~

Unbeknownst to Harry, six glowing eyes had been watching him all afternoon from where they were mostly obscured in the shadows of the denser part of the trees.

"Another human has answered the call. How interesting…"

~HP~HP~HP~

When Harry returned to Number 4 Private Dr. the sun had almost completely disappeared from the horizon. He stepped inside and immediately headed up the stairs to his room. In the downstairs area, he could hear both Dudley and his Uncle carrying on about something or other on the telly and the sounds of Aunt Petunia in the kitchen.

He quietly shut the door to his room— not that it mattered with how much noice his family was making downstairs— and fell heavily onto his bed with a groan. Perhaps he had not thought through his whole 'getting into shape' idea. He was covered in sweat and every muscle in his body ached.

After allowing himself to lie still for a few moments, Harry hoisted himself up with another groan and after closing the drapes, proceeded to change out of his sweaty clothes. As he let his pants fall to the ground, a dull thump sounded in his room that made him freeze.

 _The amulet!_

He was honestly surprised that he had forgotten about it, however he supposed he was simply distracted this afternoon. He wasn't honestly upset at that notion. Any distraction that allowed him to think about something other than watching the death of his fellow classmate and the war he knew had to be looming over the Wizarding World was welcome to him. As he finished changing, Harry fished the object out of his pant's pocket before tossing the dirty clothes in the laundry hamper.

It really was an odd little trinket. He set it on his desk and spun it around with one finger. Watching as the blue light produced shadows across the walls of his somewhat dark room.

He picked it up again and studied the tiny ruins that were written around the circumference. The amulet seemed to hum in his hand as suddenly, the ruins flashed bright white and suddenly he could read them as clear as day. Harry furrowed his brows in confusion as he slowly turned it and read the now English words aloud.

"For the…glory of…Merlin…Daylight is mine to command…"

Before he could even blink, the amulet floated up to his eye level and blue light flooded from it and encircled him. He could feel his feet being lifted off the ground, and suddenly, he felt something large and heavy begin to materialize on him. His feet once again touched the ground as the odd metal that seemed to have appeared from the light suddenly pulsed with life again and shrunk down, encasing his body perfectly.

Harry glanced down at his chest and hands as he attempted to take in what had just happened. His whole body, barring his head seemed to now be covered in a shimmery silver suit of armor. He could clearly see the amulet, still glowing blue on the left side of his chest, looking like it was simply another part of this weird armor. The material the armor was made up of seemed to move like water on his body as he took a few cautious steps around his room, however, when he knocked on his stomach, he could hear the distinct clink of metal. The armor too seemed to contain a beautiful etched design making it look far too pretty to be used in actual battle. He could see the blue glow from the amulet itself light up in the markings as well, making the armor look far more mystical and alive than any armor he had ever seen, including the suits of armor at Hogwarts.

Letting his hands fall to his side, Harry had only a seconds warning before another pulse of blue light emerged around his right hand, and suddenly, he held a beautiful sword that glistened with the blue energy. Like the armor, the sword too seemed to shrink to a custom fit for Harry, and while Harry was certainly no sword expert— he had never even used one, unless you counted the short episode in the Chamber of Secrets— he was pretty sure that the sword was balanced perfectly. Looking at it, Harry estimated that the sword's blade was no longer than about twenty five centimeters in length, however the blade was also far wider than the sword of Gryffindor had been. Somehow, Harry found he liked this particular design better. It reminded him of some of the medieval European swords that he had seen in Dudley's video games.

Finally regaining his ability to speak, the only word that Harry could manage to utter was a breathy, "Wicked".

… _Now how do I get this off?_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

AN: That's all for today folks! Please let me know what you think! I'd really appreciate any constructive criticism, or feedback! Ch 2 will probably be published sometime before this weekend.

Until next time,

~Dawn


	2. And so it continues

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this, and I merely am playing in their sandbox.**

Annnddd... Welcome to the second chapter of Glory! Thanks to everyone for the follows, favorites and kind reviews! I was actually really nervous about actually posting that first chapter, so your support really meant a lot to me. I had also not intended to post this chapter until Friday, but your support made me want to post it sooner..

For those wondering about Jim, I do have a plan, but I don't want to say too much more than that and accidentally give anything away. I will say however that he only plays a small part in this. I'd also like to mention that I have changed the timeline around a bit to make this all work. Now, I have Harry starting his 5th year in 2005. Hope this doesn't bother people too much!

Also, I forgot to mention it in the first chapter, but since I do not speak British English, I am quite certain that there are words and phrases that Harry or others might say that sound rather American. Please, if you guys notice any obvious American slang or terms, let me know and I will change it!

 _Now on to the story..._

.

.

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

 **Chapter 2:** _And so it continues…_

Turns out, getting the armor off was rather easy. That is, Harry didn't seem to have to do a thing. After about five minutes of wearing and admiring the armor, the amulet suddenly flared with the light again and the entire suit and sword faded into the light. He wasn't sure what exactly caused the armor to vanish, however he eventually shrugged it off and accredit it to magic. The amulet that was to blame for all the recent happenings simply fell to the floor with a dull thunk and lay still, innocently letting off its otherworldly blue light.

It had been three days since he had first found the amulet now, and his life was showing signs of having fallen into a sort of new routine. Like before, Harry was still getting up ridiculously early, to avoid going back to sleep. Harry would then quickly finish his chores and head to the park. Nowadays however, he would not sit idle in the park and bemoan his bad luck, instead, he would exercise. He was still woefully out of shape, but he did feel like he was starting to make a difference.

 _At least I'm doing something!_

The amulet that had started all of this remained in his pocket, and while he always kept it near him, Harry had yet to try and don the armor again since that very first time he had done it by accident.

Harry wasn't quite sure what was holding him back from trying it again. After all, it was clearly some sort of magical weapon, and he was certain if he learned to wield it, it could prove to aid him in the upcoming war against Voldemort. At first, he assumed that his reluctance was due to not knowing what it was. That is, he _knew_ it was some sort of magical artifact— it glowed and the trigger words talked about Merlin for crying out loud— but he didn't know _what_ it was. It could be dark magic for all he knew, and planted by Voldemort himself for Harry to find. It wouldn't be the first time a dangerous object was placed near Harry with the intent to kill him or his friends.

And yet, that notion didn't appear to be quite right. The amulet didn't feel evil. If anything, it fell right, especially that first time he picked it up. If Harry had to compare it to anything, he would compare it to his wand, with the way that it seemed to hum with a warm energy whenever he held it in his hand. It was for this reason that Harry always kept it on him. Simply put, it made him feel safe.

Beyond that, Harry had not even attempted to contact anyone about his find. Yet. He knew he should contact Dumbledore at the very least. That would be the right thing— no, the _responsible_ thing to do, and yet something was holding him back. He had also briefly considered contacting Hermione. After all, if any of his friends and allies could identify or be willing to put in the research for an unknown magical artifact, it would be her. But alas, he couldn't bring himself to write any of his friends in the wizarding world.

Regardless of what was really keeping him from speaking the truth, Harry continued to tell himself that the main reason for him keeping the amulet a secret was for the same reason they claimed they couldn't tell him anything: it wasn't safe.

And that was true.

If someone from Voldemort's forces was really watching his mail, it could be quite dangerous to advertise that he had found a potentially dangerous magical artifact.

Despite the above being true, Harry knew in his heart that if he needed to, he could find a way to safely alert them. No, it was mostly anger that held him back. Harry would be lying if he claimed that he was unbothered by their refusal to keep him in the loop this summer. So with the prospect of keeping a secret from them for a change, he had jumped at it. It actually made him a bit giddy if he was to tell the truth. Was it petty?

Perhaps.

Either way, Harry knew that he would need to act soon. By not doing anything to learn about the amulet, nor actually using it, he was wasting time. Time he didn't want to lose with his new proactive state of mind.

With a sigh, Harry wiped some sweat away from his brow and went back to his exercises. He would deal with the amulet later.

~HP~HP~HP~

Later that night, Harry was walking back to his relatives house. The sun hadn't quite set yet, however the haze of dusk had already set in and the shadows seemed to go on for miles.

Harry walked with quick steps. Ever since leaving the park, he had felt that someone was watching him. At first he had assumed that Dumbledore had sent another friend to keep an eye on him, however that idea was soon scratched as he realized that he had not heard any of the tells that a wizard had been nearby. Indeed, wizards seemed to be incapable of stealth, and even if they were, the clear sounds of apparition and disapparition was typically a unambiguous tell that one of them was around. In fact, that was how Harry had first recognized that Dumbledore was having people watch him in the first place.

But whoever was tailing him now was defiantly not a wizard. At least not like the ones that had been tailing him since the beginning of summer. These— for Harry was pretty sure that there was more than one— actually knew a thing or two about sneaking around.

Gathering up his Gryffindor courage, Harry slipped into a dark tunnel, and slipped his wand into his hand. If it turned out that the people who were following him were not friendly, he was going to be ready. It wasn't that he didn't trust Dumbledore's word, that the blood wards would protect him, he just wasn't willing to take any chances.

Harry stared hard into the hazy light of the tunnel's opening, holding his wand directly in front of him. Just as he was beginning to think that he was crazy, multiple heavy footsteps could be heard outside of the tunnel. He gripped his wand tighter, shifting his stance back so that his back was pressed against the cement of the tunnel behind him.

Suddenly, two creatures, for that is what they were to Harry, came into the tunnel. The smaller one's six eyes seemed to all blink one after the other as it took him in. The other, larger creature was slightly behind and to the side of the first. Harry couldn't make out the details of the larger at the moment due to it sticking mostly to the shadows, and besides, Harry's focus was on the smaller one. Something told him that that was the one he ought to be paying attention to.

Before Harry could utter a word, the two creatures rushed closer, stopping only a short distance away from where Harry stood and the smaller of the two began to talk in an excited tone.

"Greetings Master Harry! It is such a joy to finally meet you face to face! We have been watching you for the last few days of course, but nothing beats the first introductions! I am Blinkous Galadrigal, but you may just call me Blinky. And this," 'Blinky' stated, gesturing towards the even larger creature, as he continued moving towards Harry, "is my good friend. He is known to all as Aaarrrgghh."

"Stay back!" Harry stated in what he hoped passed as a firm voice. His mind could barely process what the creature was saying to him in his panic. He leveled his wand at the bizarre creatures standing before him. "I am warning you!"

Both of the creatures looked down at his wand with incredulous expressions. Blinky continued his speech, albeit he slowed down his enunciation a bit, "Now Master Harry, while I understand that you are confused and perhaps scared, I am unsure as to how a mere twig is going to protect you. You must be disoriented. Master Jim was the same when he first met us. Please, allow us to explain, and I am sure that all will become clear shortly. Indeed, glorious times are upon us I am sure!"

With that said, the two creatures took another small step towards Harry, who, finally reaching the breaking point of his panic, shouted a quick, "Stupefy!"

What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion. The red light from the spell left the wand and made its way towards the two surprised creatures, who in their relaxed state, didn't even make a move to get out of the spells way. The red light hit the smaller of the two on the cheek and seemed to explode across his skin, but other than the shock at what had happened, no other harm had come from the spell.

"Master Harry…" The smaller one, 'Blinky', said in shock, the larger of the two kept glancing from Blinky to Harry and back, as if trying to understand what had just happened. "I had no idea… How is this even possible? I had thought that your kind was extinct!"

"My what?" Harry asked cautiously, still keeping his wand leveled at the creatures, even though he knew that his last spell hadn't done a thing.

"You are a wizard!" Blinky exclaimed. "I had always thought that Merlin was one of the last! But here you are! Although, I don't believe that Merlin ever used a twig to produce magic…Nevertheless! These are joyous times indeed! The first wizard to ever hold the amulet of daylight, besides its creator of course!"

Harry just stared in confusion at the two of them.

"Er…yeah. But the wizards never died out, we simply went into hiding…"

"Fascinating. I must question you further about the wizards, but not now. Now we have far more important matters at hand." Taking a deep breath, Blinky continued, albeit a little bit more subdued, "Truly Master Harry, we are not here to hurt you. On the contrary, we only wish to train and guide you on your journey as the Trollhunter."

"Pacifist" The larger creature grumbled with a shrug, causing Harry to turn his gaze towards him. It was the first time that the one Blinky had called 'Aaarrrgghh' had spoken.

Chuckling, Blinky regarded his friend, "While you may be a pacifist, my old friend, you have certainly made exceptions in the past, and I am certain you shall find reason to in the future as well." The larger troll merely shrugged at the good natured rib.

Harry took a moment to study the two creatures. Blinky, was the smaller of the two with blue-green skin— or rock, Harry supposed, it looked like rock- he was built somewhat stout compared to a human with thin black hair that brushed his neck. Perhaps the most remarkable feature was his eyes. Blinky didn't have just two, but six. Actually, as Harry looked closer, he realized that those weren't the only additional bodyparts Blinky had: he also had two extra arms.

Pulling his gaze away from Blinky, Harry considered the larger creature. Despite his size, Aaarrrgghh was actually the more normal looking of the two. He, unlike his companion had the same number of eyes and limbs as a human. In fact, if Harry had to compare, he would say that Aaarrrgghh looked a rather lot like a gorilla he had once seen in the zoo. Well, that is if the gorilla was made of grey stone with green fur and goat horns that is. Harry also noted that both had rather large teeth and odd noses.

"Okay," Harry said after a moment, lowering his wand but not putting it away quite yet, "Say I believe you. But… what exactly are you guys? I've never come across any creatures that look anything like you."

"Creatures?" Blinky cried in shock, "Oh no, we are not mere creatures. We are trolls, Master Harry! As the Trollhunter, it is your duty to protect both troll kind as well as human kind against evil trolls and other foes. You are only the second human to ever wield the Amulet, and certainly the first wizard."

' _Well,'_ Harry thought to himself, _'You two certainly don't look like the mountain troll from first year.'_ He supposed that while the wizards called them that, those dumb creatures had no actual blood relation or similarities to the intelligent beings standing before him. ' _Barring their resistance to magic,'_ Harry added in his head with a bit of mirth. Now that he was no longer panicking, he recognized that he had been a bit rash with his wand. After a moment, Harry registered the second part of what Blinky had said.

"Wait this?" he asked as he reached into his back pocket with the hand not holding his wand and pulled out the Amulet. "This is why you guys think I am this 'trollhunting' fellow?"

"Indeed Master Harry." Blinky replied with a soft smile, "That is the Amulet of Daylight. The amulet has chosen you, as it has done so many before. You are the Troll _hunter_. It is your destiny."

Harry was tempted to try and give the Amulet back in that instance. He had far too much on his plate already with the return of Voldemort and the Wizarding World hailing him as some sort of Chosen One with the whole boy-who-lived nonsense. Could he really be expected to be another secret society's chosen one as well? Harry knew that it really would be wise to just give up the Amulet now and wash his hands of all of this, and yet, before he could open his mouth to voice his hesitations, he felt his hand closing tighter around the Amulet.

 _Don't waste this!_ A little voice in the back of his head screamed, _this is your chance to get some actual training! Do you want to fight or not?!_

Of course he wanted to fight, but Harry wondered if it was really fair to use the trolls' willingness to train him when he simply wanted to turn around and use that training to fight in a war the trolls had no part in. In fact, if he was the Trollhunter, wouldn't he be pulling the trolls into the wizarding war?

 _But wasn't that exactly what they wanted?_ The voice reminded him, _A fighter? Couldn't both the trolls and you use each other to reach the ends that you need? There is no reason that both parties couldn't benefit from the arrangement. Besides, who are you kidding? The prospect of a new adventure has you positively champing at the bit! No more sitting around all summer doing nothing!_

Harry shook his head. Perhaps he really was going crazy. He was pretty sure that Ron had told him at some point that hearing voices was never a good sign, but that didn't count if it was your own voice right? Anyways, Harry was pretty sure that he had already made up his mind. He just hoped that he didn't end up regretting it.

"Okay." Harry stated at long last. "Where do we begin?"

.

.

.

.

.

AN: That's all for today folks! Chapter three is already completed and I will publish it sometime within the next week. I am trying to space out how quickly I am releasing these chapters so that I can stay on top of actually writing them so don't expect this next one to be released quite as quick.

Until next time,

~Dawn


	3. Unwanted Letters

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in their sandbox.**

 ****In this particular chapter, a few excerpts from J.K. Rolling's book,** **Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix** **exist. I do not own them in any way, and take no credit. They are only there because they were necessary for the plot. They are labeled as excerpts along with the page numbers that were taken from.**

Welcome back for the third chapter! I hope you are all well and are as ready for the weekend as me!

Without further ado…

.

.

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

 _Previously:_

" _Okay." Harry stated at long last. "Where do we begin?"_

.

.

 **Chapter 3:** _Unwanted letters_

"An entrance to Trollmarket is actually not far from here. There you shall be trained in the hero's forge, like so many of the formidable trollhunters before you!"

"I cannot go to Trollmarket. I'm being watched by wizards. I'm rather famous in the wizarding world, you see, so they are there mostly for my protection." Harry knew his explanation was rather lacking on many important details, but he felt it got the point across. Besides, he really wasn't ready to tell them about his issues with Voldemort quite yet.

"We knew you were being watched by someone. It is why we had not approached you sooner." Blinky paused for a moment, as he considered his next words carefully, "Indeed, it is troubling. Master Jim never had such difficulties getting away. Master Jim, however was not a wizard. Nevertheless! You need training Master Harry, if you are to be the next Trollhunter, and we shall find someone capable of training you, however perhaps not in the usual way. After all, if there was anything I learned from training young Master Jim, it was that human Trollhunters did not necessarily follow the same rules that troll kind do. I will see what I can do. It might take a few days, but I am sure we can come up with a solution to train you without letting the wizards sound off a tocsin. "

"Er. Well okay…" Harry said after a moment. "But what can I do in the mean time? I mean, I don't actually live in Private Drive all year. I go to Hogwarts— thats a wizarding school, by the way— which I believe is actually located up in Scotland. If I remember what my friend Hermione told me one time, Hogwarts can't actually be found or seen unless you are invited, a teacher or a student. Its the wards."

Blinky considered Harry for a few minutes, deep in thought, before he turned and reached into a bag, which Harry assumed he had set down behind him while he had been too busy panicking to notice. Blinky pulled out two old looking books, offering them both to Harry as he began speaking. "Read these. The first book is one of the many volumes on Troll lore and society. Perhaps it will help you to better understand our culture and traditions since you cannot go and visit the actual Trollmarket at this point in time. The second is all about the history of the Trollhunters. That is, those who have held the Amulet of Daylight before you and the hurdles that hampered them during their lifetimes. As for this school of yours, all that I ask is that you again be patient. We will think of something."

"In addition, perhaps it would be wise for me to tell you the three basic rules that guide the Trollhunter. That way, you can begin to keep them in mind as you live your daily life. Number one: always be afraid!"

Harry blinked in confusion, barely having enough time to spin out of the way of a rock that Aaarrrgghh had picked up at some point and thrown at him. He clutched the books to his chest as he took a few breaths to calm the sudden surge of adrenaline.

"Excellent reflexes, Master Harry!" Blinky grinned, "Yes! Being afraid keeps us from never growing overconfident. If channeled correctly, fear can be a most excellent tool. Rule number two: always finish the fight. Leaving an enemy alive allows them to return and fight you another day. Our world can be cruel sometimes; its kill or be killed in many situations."

Harry could defiantly understand this rule. After all, Voldemort had survived and had now been given the chance to return. Not for the first time, Harry questioned why nobody in the wizarding world had attempted to stop Voldemort before he was able to completely regain his strength again. But to kill? Harry honestly wasn't sure he could do that. In the heat of a battle maybe, but certainly not in cold blood. He simply didn't have the stomach.

"And finally the third rule" Blinky continued, breaking Harry's line of thought, "if you are ever in doubt, simply kick your opponent in the gronk-nuks."

Harry furrowed his brows. Okay. He could understand, and even agree with the first two rules, however the third? That was just weird. It reminded him of some sort of basic self defense class. You know, 'aim for the pressure points' and all that. Not what he would expect from some sort of powerful sword wielding protector trained to fight to the death. He didn't voice his concerns however, as Blinky had already begun speaking again.

"Well Master Harry, I think we have given you enough to think about to start on your journey of self-realization. So for now, I think we will bid you adieu and be on our way." Blinky started to turn before quickly turning back and rummaging through his bag once more, "Oh! I cannot believe that I almost forgot! Here!"

Blinky shoved a beautiful glowing orange crystal into Harry's already full arms. The crystal was adhered to an ornate handle that looked like it belonged on the end of a dagger, not a rock. He juggled for a minute not to drop the books or any of the other items he now had in his hands. Luckily he had already slipped his wand into his front pocket so at least he didn't have to worry about that.

"This is a horngazel. It is the key to get into Trollmarket. I want you to have one in case you ever run into trouble and need a place to go. No one can get into Trollmarket unless they have one of those. It is extremely important that you do not lose it, leave it, or let anyone else have it. To use it, simply draw an outline of a door. Like this."

Blinky retook the horngazel he had just handed Harry only to turn towards the cement wall of the tunnel they were standing in and carefully drew the outline of a large arch. He then turned back around and handed the crystal back to Harry.

"Of course, you cannot simply open the passage to Troll Market wherever you please. No, the closest portal that the horngazel can open is located under the bridge down on 8th street."

Doing a quick mental map of the area, Harry realized that the bridge that Blinky was referring to was in fact the one that was near the same park that he exercised in every day. It was also extremely close to where he had found the amulet in the first place.

"While it may be a bit wet down there, go under the bridge to the middle on the side closest to the park. That is where you can use the horngazel to open the passage to Trollmarket. Now we really must be leaving. It truly was wonderful to meet you Master Harry."

"Bye-bye." Aaarrrgghh grumbled as he too turned around and began to follow Blinky back towards the way they came. Harry noted that they seemed very careful to stick to the increasing shadows of the setting sun.

"Bye…" Harry muttered, mostly to himself as he once more shuffled the amulet, crystal and the books in his arms before setting of towards his relatives home once more.

~HP~HP~HP~

Harry opened the front door of his relatives house quietly, before sneaking up the stairs. He really didn't want to be caught by them with all the 'freakish' items in his arms. Opening and shutting his door and locking it quickly, he made his way over to his study area and placed all the items — barring the amulet, which he slipped back into his pocket— on his worn desk. Harry then made his way towards the drapes, gently pulling them closed. The whole time he was doing this, his mind never left what he had learned only an hour ago.

The Amulet of Daylight.

Thats what the trolls had called his glowing magical amulet. And it made him the Trollhunter. For once, Harry wasn't that upset that he had an additional title to add to his name. No, while he didn't feel that he had earned the title yet, he felt he could. No, he knew he could and they were going to train him to make sure he could reach this purpose. It was not like with the wizards who so lazily hailed him a chosen one; 'the-boy-who-lived'; _a hero_ ; when all he had ever done was not die as a baby. Sure he had achieved some impressive things at Hogwarts, but Harry was the first to admit that he had not done a single one of those things alone or without help. Hermione was a far better witch than he would ever be!

Sighing, Harry backed up and sat on his bed, however, instead of sitting on the worn duvet, Harry heard crinkling parchment. Quickly standing, Harry turned around to see four letters situated on his bed. He assumed they had come during the day while he was out. He had left the window open after all, for Hedwig's return from the Weasleys. Now he was thankful for it. He was certain his relatives would be pissed if they had known owls were coming into the house all day. He could imagine the hollering if they had come in through one of the downstairs windows. Behind him in her cage, Hedwig gave a quite hoot.

"You've been busy. Haven't you girl?" Harry said with a smile, eyeing the letters. Instead of replying, Hedwig simply took a sip of water.

The first letter was from Ron, basically telling Harry the same old stuff.

 _Hey Mate,_

 _Sorry I can't tell you much. Family's great. The twins have been crazy this summer! I think they are excited to begin their last year of Hogwarts. I hope you can come join us at the end of summer! Don't let the muggles get you down!_

 _Ron_

It was the next three letters that had Harry practically hyperventilating. Reading the envelopes in the order that they came, Harry could see that the first had been dropped by the ministry:

 _**Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _We have received intelligence that you preformed the Stupefy Curse at ten minutes after eight this evening in a Muggle inhabited area. This breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand._

 _As you have already received an official warning for a previous offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on August 12th._

 _Hoping you are well,_

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Mafalda Hophirk_

 _improper use of magic office_

 _Ministry of Magic_

(**Slightly edited excerpt from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, pg. 26-27)

After he had finished reading the letter, Harry read it again. And again. He read it so many times he was certain the words were becoming blurry.

' _There has to be a mistake!'_ He thought weakly to himself. He knew there was no mistake however. Harry clearly remembered casting the stupefy at Blinky an hour or so ago. A lot of good it did. Once more, he cursed himself for his rash behavior earlier that night. _'If you had only taken a moment to hear them out and not acted like a rash Gryffindor for once in your life… Maybe you wouldn't be in this situation!'_ He mentally scolded himself.

In a daze, Harry turned to the other two unopened letters. The third one was also from from the Weasleys' it seemed. From the handwriting alone, Harry could tell that this letter had been rushed.

 _**Harry,_

 _Dumbledore's just arrived at the Ministry, and he's trying to sort it all out. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE"S HOUSE. DO NOT DO ANY MORE NOT SURRENDER YOUR WAND._

 _Arthur Weasley_

(**Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, pg. 28)

Dumbledore was already helping him it seemed. Harry allowed himself a deep breath. He might have been frustrated with the lack of communication this summer, but at least he knew that Dumbledore was still willing to help him when it counted.

With slightly shaking hands, Harry carefully opened the third letter, which he dimly noticed was also from the Ministry of Magic.

 _**Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _Further to our letter of approximately twenty-two minutes ago, the Ministry of Magic has revised its decision to destroy your wand forthwith. You may retain your wand until your disciplinary hearing on the 12th of August, at which time an official decision will be taken._

 _Following discussions with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly, the Ministry has agreed that the question of your expulsion will also be decided at that time. You should therefore consider yourself suspended from school pending further inquiries._

 _With best wishes,_

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Mafalda Hophirk_

 _improper use of magic office_

 _Ministry of Magic_

(**Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, pg. 32-33)

Having read all four letters, Harry finally let all the parchment fall back to its place on his bed. His initial relief had faded with the realization that Dumbledore was unable to completely clear up this mess for him. He still needed to go to a hearing, and he still might be expelled from Hogwarts. If he didn't know any better, he would think that the Ministry of Magic _wanted_ him out of the picture.

But that was silly right? He was the boy-who-lived for Merlin's sake! Even if he hated the title, it must mean something!

Shaking his head, Harry backed up until his back hit the adjacent wall, his eyes never leaving the pile of opened letters spread on his bed. Slowly, he slid down to the floor, his knees coming up to his chest and his head held up by his hands. The cold floor of his room seemed to seep through his worn out clothes but he paid it no mind.

What was he going to do?

His eyes still hadn't left the bed where the abandoned letters sat innocently mocking him.

He couldn't be expelled from Hogwarts! That was his home! What's more, what was he supposed to do if they actually did snap his wand? He would be a sitting duck, just waiting for Voldemort to come and finally finish him off! He couldn't leave his friends to fight off Voldemort all by themselves, the guilt would surely kill him if Voldemort didn't beat him to it!

' _But no_ ,' Harry suddenly realized, plunging his hand into his pocket with such desperation he almost dropped the item he was seeking, ' _I won't be completely helpless_.'

He held the Amulet in front of his face, forcing his eyes to finally break the staring contest they had been having with the letters. His eyes desperately took in the warm calming glow that it emitted. It hummed softly in his hand, as if trying to provide some comfort for the almost 15 year old boy. Finally taking a deep breath, Harry steeled himself.

He was going to get a trial. Dumbledore wouldn't let him lose his wand, of that he was sure. But even without his wand, Harry would never be powerless again. Nobody would ever put him down and malnourish him like in his childhood. With or without a wand, Harry knew how to stand on his own, and he refused to ever be a weak child again. And as for the Amulet of Daylight, Harry knew that nobody could ever take that away from him. He was it's wielder, it belonged to him!

They would have to kill him to get to it.

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!"

A moment passed and nothing happened.

Harry was just about to repeat the words when the Amulet pulsed and suddenly the armor began appearing upon his body. It was much quicker this time, with the sword appearing right along with the rest of the armor with everything perfectly sized from the get go.

Releasing a deep breath he didn't know he had been holding and using the sword as a crutch to help him stand, Harry slowly rose to his feet.

.

.

.

.

.

AN: So you can see some changes to the original HP books are already taking place! Since no other wizards besides Harry have any clue about what is going on, I could see no reason for them not to react exactly the same way they did originally in Order of the Phoenix to Harry practicing magic. That being said, this story will continue to pull further away from the original plot as time goes on. I am going for butterfly effect- can't change too much all at once!

On a side note, how many of you realized that the 'stupefy' from last chapter was what was going to trigger the hearing?

The next chapter is completed, so expect it to be posted sometime during the next week!

Until next time!

~Dawn


	4. Strange Visitor

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this, and I merely am playing in their sandbox.**

Hello everyone! Two days in a row! I'm on a roll! Actually, I just finished writing out chapter 7, so I figured I was enough ahead to go ahead an post this one too. It's the shortest chapter I've written so far, but the plot is finally moving!

So without further ado, lets start!

.

.

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

 **Chapter 4:** _Strange Visitor_

The next morning there was a change in Harry's daily routine. Deciding that it would be best to take Mr. Weasley's words to heart, Harry had not left for the park after finishing his chores. It didn't help that he had also received yet another letter telling him to stay put; this one from Sirius— His relatives had actually been present for that one, unfortunately. Luckily, besides the initial yelling, they never did ask what the contents of the letter were. Nevertheless, instead of leaving for the park, Harry trudged back up to his room and shut the door after grabbing a small bite to eat in the kitchen.

Since he was stuck inside, Harry figured that he might as well attempt to be productive and read one of the books that Blinky had given him the night before.

Harry was also trying his best to avoid his relatives. While Dudley mostly spent his summer days outside the house stirring up trouble with his little gang of friends, and Uncle Vernon still had work, Aunt Petunia was still downstairs. All three of the Dursleys were completely unaware of the letters he had obtained from the Ministry last night and his current predicament, and he intended to keep it like that. He didn't know if he could deal with the jeers they were likely to direct at him should the hear he might be expelled, or worse lose his wand. Therefore, Harry had no intention of even letting Petunia know he hadn't left the house, if for no other reason than to avoid questions.

Harry only got about a chapter and a half into the book on Troll lore before he had fallen asleep. It wasn't that the book was boring— actually, thats a lie. It was as dull as any history textbook Harry had ever read— Harry had simply exhausted himself so much with lack of sleep that his body used the quiet chore of reading as a way to lull him back to sleep.

When he woke from the surprisingly beneficial and nightmare-free nap, Harry was surprised to note that the day was already well into the afternoon hours. He also felt far better than he had in a good while.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the last fogginess of sleep, Harry repositioned the book that had partly fallen off his lap and attempted to get back to reading.

Despite falling asleep, Harry had actually managed to learn a good few things from the book that morning. He had even begun to write out a list of key information that he felt he should remember about the trolls.

So far, his list consisted of four new tidbits of information:

1) Trolls turned to stone if they stepped into the sun. At first, this had baffled Harry, but then, he remembered how he had noticed how both Blinky and Aaarrrgghh seemed to stick to the shadows when they set off yesterday evening.

2) Long ago, there was a war between good and evil trolls and the evil trolls were locked away in a place called the 'dark lands'.

3) After said war, the original Heartstone was destroyed, causing the trolls to be forced to find a new home. By this point, Harry had circled the word 'Heartstone' with a question mark.

4) The Trollmarket, that is, the trolls current home, can only be accessed by usage of a horngazel, and there are less than five portals worldwide to open it. The main one in Arcadia, USA, and another, apparently in Surrey.

Harry was honestly rather proud of his studying thus far. He had really never been that much of a reader, let alone a studier like Hermione, so his focus thus far was something of an achievement. Then again, it wasn't like there was really much else he could do while he was on house arrest. His thoughts darkened as he recalled the letters from last night for the umpteenth time.

What did they expect him to do anyways? Harry doubted that the Weasley's were going to take him in for the rest of the summer. Hogwarts didn't start until the 1st of September, and his hearing wasn't until the 12th of August. Today was the 18th of July! Did they really expect him to remain within the Dursley's house until the trial? That would be torture!

He would also be lying if he claimed he was that thrilled with the lack of information in the letters he had received from Mr. Weasley and Sirius, now that he could think more rationally about them. Both letters had only really contained commands. Granted, he figured both had also been written rather hastily, but he was still a bit bothered at how accusing the tones appeared to be.

He had honestly been scared for his life when he cast that Stupefy. Surely they didn't think that he had cast the spell out of amusement or as some sort of attention seeking stunt. It made his stomach turn at the notion that Sirius might think so lowly of him.

He also wondered how he could possibly defend himself in his hearing. From what he read so far, he was pretty sure that the trolls wanted to remain secret, so claiming that they had scared him and he had cast it in self defense was out. Perhaps he would ask Blinky next time he saw him.

' _If I see him again_ ,' Harry reminded himself. Now that he was on house arrest, the likelihood that he would see any of the trolls before he left for school, or even just before his hearing was becoming increasingly unlikely. ' _It's not like they can walk in the daylight, let alone go unnoticed by the humans…'_

With a sigh, Harry attempted to turn his attention back towards the book resting in his lap.

~x~

Sometime later, while Harry was still attempting to keep his focus on the book, he heard the doorbell ring. This was shortly followed by Aunt Petunia's quick footsteps.

He hadn't been as successful in his reading venture that afternoon as he had been that morning, although he was pretty sure he had reread the same page at least 7 times.

Downstairs, Harry could hear Aunt Petunia answer the door. He strained his ears to hear what was going on.

" —Strickler." He heard a smooth voice reply to whatever his Aunt had said. "I am here about a boy named Mr. Harry Potter."

Harry froze when he heard his name. _'Could this be a wizard from the Ministry of Magic?'_ He wondered. As quietly as he could, Harry crept closer towards his door and carefully cracked it so that he could hear a little better. From Aunt Petunia's reply, it was clear that she was thinking along the same lines as him.

"Are you one of them?" He heard her bite out rather nastily.

"I am unsure how you mean." The man's voice replied smoothly. "I am a professional who works for Ofsted. That is, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills. I am simply here for a follow up regarding young Mr. Potter's education. You see, we have on record that Mr. Potter has been going to a boarding school for the last four years, however we have not received any tests or other documents for his file."

Harry crinkled his brow in confusion. Of course, he realized that he wouldn't have any Muggle files regarding his education, but he hadn't realized that this would cause him any issues. The wizards must have some way of combating this! After all, Harry reasoned, there were quite a few muggleborns at Hogwarts.

"Well yes…" It seemed Aunt Petunia didn't know what to say either. "The boy goes to a boarding school alright. He is a bit of a ruffian if you asked me. Always getting into trouble. Probably doesn't get the greatest of grades anyways. I've never seen any of his test scores or reports though. He likely hides them."

"I see…" Came the response. "Well, perhaps if I could talk to the boy, we could see about getting all of this sorted."

Harry froze. There was no way he wanted to talk to this man. He was already dealing with an impending hearing, he had no clue what to say to a muggle education official. Lucky for him, Aunt Petunia didn't know he was upstairs.

"Of course! He is right upstairs! Let me go get him!"

Or not.

He supposed he hadn't been as quiet as he had though he had. Or perhaps he had made noises while sleeping. Harry briefly considered running, but he really had no place to hide. Instead he just opened the door the rest of the way and stepped out into the hallway. Aunt Petunia approached him a moment later.

"I suppose you heard the man downstairs?" She asked primly.

Harry only nodded as he slowly made his way down the stairs, Aunt Petunia following him closely.

Upon entering the front hallway, Harry got his first look at the stranger. The man was rather tall with long thin legs and a rather lean and fit body. Going off his physical build Harry wouldn't have been surprised to learn that the man was a runner, or at least spent a good number of hours at the gym. His thick mop of hair was perfectly styled and had a slightly salt and pepper tint to its coal black color with thick eyebrows to match. He had a long face, which made his large nose, ears and kind green eyes stand out even more. In other words, the man appeared to be for all intents and purposes, entirely normal.

"Lets step outside. Shall we Mr. Potter?" The man asked gesturing towards the front door.

Harry glanced behind to look at Aunt Petunia only to see that she had already turned her back to him and was walking towards the kitchen.

Some help she was.

Harry could think of no reason to refuse the man's offer to go outside that wouldn't break the statute of secrecy. He thus mutely nodded and followed the man out onto the front porch. After a moment, the man stopped and turned around. Harry noted that he seemed to have stopped in a place that was out of earshot to any would be listeners.

"Mr. Potter," The man began in a hushed tone, "I don't know how much of that you heard if any, but I'd like to assure you that you are not in any actual trouble. My name is Walter Strickler, but some… like the folks I believe you met last night call me Stricklander."

'… _the folks I met last night?'_ Harry puzzled, _'the only ones I talked to last night were… oh.'_

Oh!

Harry's eyes widened as he looked up at Stricklander. The man in question simply twirled the edges of his lips slightly up in response.

"But I don't understand," Harry said quickly in an equally hushed tone, "I didn't think any other humans were aware… Wait! Are you Jim?"

Harry had remembered Blinky referring to another human trollhunter, a 'Master Jim' quite a few times last night so it seemed like a logical conclusion.

"Jim Lake?" Stricklander asked with an amused look. "No. I do believe I said my human name was Walter Strickler. But I am not entirely human if that is what you are asking. More a troll that can take on the appearance of a human and walk in daylight. A changeling. Its a bit complicated and not really important right now. What is, is that Blinky called in a favor and now, it appears that I am going to train you, young Trollhunter."

After that, Harry and Stricklander wrapped up their conversation pretty quickly. It was decided that Harry would be meeting Stricklander every day at an office building he and the other trolls were working on procuring at that very moment for the sake of Harry's training. What he would tell Aunt Petunia, and allow the wizards to assume was that it had to do with him technically being a muggleborn and thus requiring some tests to prove that he was up to the standards of his age in his education.

All in all, it sounded like a rather ingenious plan to Harry, however there was one slight flaw… The wizards still wanted Harry to remain on house arrest. While Harry had no intention of actually following through with that demand, he still worried about the fall out when they realized he wasn't listening to their instruction.

~x~

It was later that day when Harry received yet another letter.

Swooping in from his open window, Pigwidgeon, otherwise known as Pig, landed ungracefully on his bed with feathers going in every direction. Giving himself a disgruntle shake, Pig hopped over to the edge of the bed where Harry sat and held out his leg with an expecting stare.

Due to the tribulation that had come from similar letters in the last twenty four hours, Harry was unable to bring himself to be amused by Pigs actions. Instead, he simply reached out with slightly shaking hands and carefully untied the letter from Pig's leg. Unraveling it slowly, he read its contents.

 _Harry,_

 _Bloody hell mate! My parents told me about your suspension and hearing! They are absolutely bonkers if they think expelling you is a good idea!_

 _Anyways, Mum wanted me to let you know that we will be picking you up sometime after your birthday. Can't give you the exact date due to security reasons. Sorry. You also don't have to stay indoors any longer. Quoting Moody here: 'so long as he doesn't do anything stupid, he should be safe.'_

 _Your mate,_

 _Ron_

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Well. Turns out he wouldn't have to worry about the wizards getting angry at him for not following their instructions. He was also glad that he would be able to escape the house. After one day of only strange guests and books to keep him company, he couldn't imagine staying inside all summer and still remaining sane.

.

.

.

.

.

AN: Thus enters Strickler! I am sure some of you probably noticed that Strickler was listed as one of the main characters. There was a reason for this as you can probably now see! He has a large part to play.

Honestly he was one of my favorite characters in the series, and while I was trying to figure out how Harry could get his training done in secret, I realized I would need to use a changeling. Strickler felt like the perfect character for the job.

As for Ofsed, yes, it is a real organization, although I kinda doubt they would actually look at a single individual like I inferred. Nonetheless, I needed a cover for Strickler, and seeing as he has a background in teaching, I figured it would work. He doesn't actually work for Ofsed, of course. So I figured the details didn't have to be perfect, just enough to fool the Dursley's and the wizards. Besides, after quite a bit of research, this was the best thing I could find.

Till next time,

~Dawn


	5. Training and Trust

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this, and I merely am playing in their sandbox.**

Hello everyone! Happy Holidays! Can't believe that Chapter 5 is already being published!

On another note, I'd like to address an issue that came up in a review before we begin:

The trolls are NOT immune to all magic, and spells like Lumos Solem are _very much_ in play... Stupefy didn't work because I feel it was made for beings of flesh and nervous systems. Trolls are basically living rock. The spell simply slid off Blinky's skin like what you'd expect if you hit a dragon, or mountain troll with the same. Perhaps if multiple wizards all shot the spell at the same time it would work, but I don't have any plans thus far to test that actual theory.

I had Harry cast the Stupefy instead of a spell that would have worked because a) he didn't know any better and was panicked; it is one of his signature spells (at least, used a remarkable amount of times), so certainly a default for him and b) if the spell that he ended up using actually worked the plot wouldn't have been able to move forward. Besides Harry didn't know what they were. As I wrote in chapter 4, he hadn't realized until he read the book that daylight could kill them.

There is a reason that the two worlds have been kept unaware of each other for so long, and also a reason that Harry, a wizard, who could so easily decimate the trolls was chosen as the Amulet's wielder. I'd also like to point out that a changeling would be unaffected by a spell like Lumos Solem, seeing as they can walk in daylight with no problem.

Hope this clears up any confusion!

With that said, on to the story!

.

.

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

 **Chapter 5:** _Training and Trust_

It had been a week and a half since Harry had first met Stricklander and since then, he had spent a large part of every day at 'the office' learning anything and everything he could from the man. 'The office' was the nick-name that Harry had jokingly given the training room- after all, he was supposedly studying and taking tests- much to his surprise however, the name seemed to have stuck.

Harry remembered the first time he had entered the office…

He had met up with Stricklander outside of the address he had been given when Stricklander had first came to his house. The two of them had then made their way into the office, and Harry had gotten his first look:

The primary room was rather large with high ceilings, plain cream walls, and a concrete flooring. Overall it really wasn't much to look at if Harry was honest. In the back corner of the room, a partly glass doorway led to a small office. During that first visit, both rooms had been bare, with only a few unpacked boxes of stuff leaning haphazardly against the wall. Over the next few days, the office began to look far more like a training room— with a weapons rack in the corner, rope hanging from the ceiling and some basic exercise equipment scattered around the room, of course, one cannot forget the books that seemed to multiply in the actual little back office room.

According to both Stricklander and Blinky, the office was nothing like the heroes forge where most Trollhunters learned their trade but, "In a pinch, it shall do." as Blinky had said when he came to visit. Blinky hadn't seemed entirely comfortable during the visit around Stricklander, but Harry didn't think to hard on that particular nugget of information.

It had also helped that the office had noice canceling technology built into the walls. Stricklander claimed that this was because the building had originally been designed as some sort of music studio. Of course, the idiots designing it did a horrid job with the acoustics, leaving the studio virtually unwanted by the music community. It had almost been demolished when Stricklander and Blinky had managed to snag it overnight. It really was a lucky find.

Harry looked back at Stricklander now that he was done examining the room. "What should we do now?" he questioned.

"Now we begin your training, young magus" Stricklander looked expectantly at Harry. This was the second time that Stricklander had called his this. When Harry had questioned it, Stricklander had merely wrote it off as a nickname. After that, Harry simply attributed it as some sort of an endearing quirk and figured the name itself had to do with the fact that he was a wizard.

After a moment, Harry finally took the hint and quickly pulled out the Amulet of Daylight. A moment later he was adorned in the Amulet's enchanting armor.

"Good." Stricklander merely said as he slowly circled Harry. "You seem to already have rather good control of the Amulet. I should warn you however, that the Amulet of Daylight tends to respond to increased emotional states. For example, your emotions might trigger the armor without the incantation if you are in an increased state of fear or distress, or even deactivate the armor if it senses that you are relaxed… Like that."

While Stricklander had been talking, the armor had suddenly faded. The Amulet fell soundlessly into Harry's palm.

"You are going to have to work on controlling your emotions and _will_ the armor to stay on. Once you get more practice, it will become easier, and the amulet will also begin to understand _you_ better. At some point, I wouldn't be surprised if you could trigger the armor to appear on purpose without the need for the incantation, but that is a long ways off. Now, I am sure that Blinky told you the importance of fear in a fight? While this is true, you cannot allow that fear to completely control you. Using your instincts as a tool is good, however that is what they must remain. A tool. It is in this way that you must control you emotions. I find meditation helps. Perhaps before you go to bed every night?"

Harry nodded. It was probably a good idea anyways. Even if he didn't need help controlling his emotions, maybe it would help keep his nightmares at bay. Stricklander looked on cordially as he came to a stop directly in front of Harry.

"Now before we continue, perhaps I should show you something. As I mentioned yesterday afternoon, I am what is called a changeling. This means that while I can take on the form of a human and walk in daylight, technically I am just a troll in disguise."

As he finished his statement, Stricklander allowed his body to shift back to its true appearance. Truly to Harry, Stricklander didn't look all that much different as a troll than he did as a human. That is, he still had the same build, facial features and hair. The most noticeable change however was that instead of the pale creamy complexion of his human skin, Now Stricklander was a somewhat sickly green color with horns and much larger teeth. Harry also noted his large elfish ears and yellow eyes.

After looking him over, Harrys eyes found Stricklander's once more, surprised to see the approval within them. It made Harry wonder if Stricklander had been worried that Harry was going to be afraid the first time he saw the changeling's true self.

"Alright. Now that that is taken care of, I believe it is about time we get down to work!"

~x~

Since that first day, Stricklander had been teaching him anything and everything that he felt could help Harry better be the Trollhunter. This meant of course that while Harry was learning how to parry with a sword along with other fighting and survival techniques, he was also learning history, culture and similar topics about the trolls that could aid him in the long run. While Harry never voiced his thoughts, Harry was rather thankful. It meant that he didn't have to worry as much about finishing reading the books that Blinky had given him.

Stricklander was also very open to any questions that Harry might have for him, however, Harry had noted that he seemed to gloss over many of the details of his past.

It was nearly a week into his training that Harry had finally voiced the question that had been nagging him ever since he had first met Blinky.

"How does the amulet choose a new Trollhunter?"

Stricklander had paused in the fighting stance that he had been demonstrating for Harry, and considered him. "Well, that is widely unknown." He had answered carefully. "There isn't really a way to know exactly who the Amulet will pick next. There are rumors of course that have developed surrounding the Amulet, I however don't personally know them as I have never truly been a part of the Trollmarket society, especially not their gossip rings. Even now, while I am on pretty good terms with the other trolls of Trollmarket, I tend to spend the majority of my time in the human world. Changelings, or Impure as we are often referred to are still not that accepted in their world. Besides, I have not always made the greatest decisions."

"That makes sense." Harry replied easily. He decided to ignore what Stricklander had alluded to about himself, not wanting to be too intrusive. "But what happens to the previous Trollhunter?"

Stricklander took a breath before looking over at the wall. "Typically Harry, the Trollhunter is killed in battle, thus creating the need for the Amulet to chose another."

"Oh." Harry said looking down. He should have expected this. It did make sense after all. He could hardly expect that being the Trollhunter would give him a very long life expectancy. "Is that what happened to Jim?"

Surprisingly, instead of answering in the positive, Stricklander shook his head, a small smile adorning his face. "Not exactly. You see, Jim Lake was always a bit unique. He was the first human Trollhunter and to my understanding, that caused quite a stir in Trollmarket. No, when Jim reached his twenties, and started wanting to go off to college with Claire, his girlfriend, like all his peers before him, the Amulet began to reject him. He is the only account we have of the Amulet passing on to someone else without the previous Trollhunter having to die first."

"According to Blinky, this is probably due to him being human. After all, trolls live far longer lifetimes than humans, and thus we age far slower. Blinky believes that it was due to Jim's rapidly changing body that made it possible for the Amulet to reject him, and his wish to move on with his life that created the final nudge. Jim still visits the Trollmarket from time to time to my knowledge, but I haven't seen him in many years."

"He doesn't visit you?" Harry asked without thinking, "Sorry. I don't mean to be nosy. It just seems like you knew him really well."

"I did know him rather well, I suppose." Stricklander replied softly. "We don't have the best history, however. I am unsure if he ever forgave me for some of the things I did…"

Trailing off, Stricklander seemed to become lost in though. Harry watched him for a moment before finally piping up with another question. "So Jim was the last Trollhunter then?"

Stricklander shook his head, focusing his eyes back on Harry, "Actually no. There was one Trollhunter that came in between you and Jim… Straan, I believe his name was. Never actually met him, myself. He was the Trollhunter for just over a decade. We don't actually know what did him in, only that he was killed here in Little Whinging."

 _The rock pile!_ Harry realized with a bit of alarm. When he had been moving the rocks around to get to the Amulet, he had never considered that _those_ were the remains of the previous Trollhunter. Harry wasn't sure if he should be disheartened or nauseous.

"Now," Stricklander broke in, "Why don't we get back on track, young magus. If you ever find yourself in a position, where…"

~x~

Of course, they didn't always talk strictly about trollhunting.

On one afternoon, Stricklander sat Harry down and began asking him question after question about the Wizarding World. Particularly, he asked about Hogwarts and the education he was gaining there.

Overall, there were many things that seemed to annoy Stricklander about the Wizarding World, Harry noted. For one, Stricklander had been rather alarmed by the blood purism and the war that was prevalent in the British Wizarding World, he didn't however actually comment on it. While Harry did mention the part he had played in vanquishing Voldemort the first time, he deliberately left out how famous he had become in response.

When Stricklander had asked what courses were being taught at Hogwarts was when the ball really dropped.

"You truly learn no basic world history, or science, or math? What about foreign languages? Literature? Nothing?!"

Harry just gave a little shrug. Coming from a muggle upbringing, he knew what their primary schools were like and was a little embarrassed by Hogwarts lack of muggle classes if he were honest. "Well there is this class called muggle studies, but I've heard it's a bit of a joke. The wizards think muggles are stuck in the 19th century or something. It's also only an elective, so I didn't take it."

After that, Stricklander seemed to make it a point to add in little lessons in mundane subjects in between bouts of physical training every day.

~x~

Ever since starting his training, Harry had been giving it his absolute all. He knew he was on a deadline and he was desperate to learn as much as he could before his time was up.

Today, however, Harry was a bit distracted. You see, tomorrow was his birthday. It also happened to be the last day of July. According to Ron, the Weasleys were going to pick him up " _sometime after your birthday_ ". That meant any day in August was free game for the wizards to show up and whisk him away from Little Whinging and back to the Wizarding World.

Normally he would be thrilled with the prospect of leaving his relatives behind, but now he wasn't so sure he was ready to leave. He was just starting to get into the swing of things in his training as the Trollhunter, and he wasn't sure when the next time he would be able to see any of the trolls, let alone actually train with the Amulet.

Harry hadn't yet told Stricklander about his hearing or his impending departure with the wizards. He had brought Ron's last letter with him— as overly crinkled as it was— but even with the letter in his bag, he really didn't want to explain what he was dealing with in the Wizarding World. It wasn't that he didn't trust Stricklander with the information. In fact, every day, Harry found himself trusting the changeling more and more; more so than he had ever found himself trusting an adult figure.

It saddened him to admit that, even to himself. In another universe, he was pretty sure that Sirius would have been his confident; his father-like figure… but due to the fact that Sirius and he had only actually talked face to face a small number of times, and now with the feeling of betrayal that Harry felt this summer at Sirius' refusal to keep him in the loop, Harry's trust in Sirius was waning.

It also didn't help that he had had such poor adult role models and so few grownups willing to take him seriously during his childhood and even his years at Hogwarts. Yet, Stricklander both took the time to help him, but he also _listened_ , and Harry felt unexpectedly drawn towards his stern new trainer.

"Mr. Potter! Are you paying attention?" Said stern trainer asked Harry, pulling him back from his thoughts.

"Er, yes. Sorry, Stricklander. I've just got a lot on my mind today."

Stricklander's expression softened a touch and he sighed, his green hand moving from the science textbook he had been explaining to Harry. "Anything you wish to discuss?"

At first Harry hesitated, not quite sure how to answer, before finally with a jerky nod, he reached into his bag and pulled out the letter from Ron. He stared at it a moment before hesitantly handing it over to Stricklander.

With a furrowed brow, Stricklander carefully unfolded the parchment and read the letter. Finally, he moved his eyes up to meet Harry's downcast ones. "A hearing?" he asked gently.

"It was for using magic." Harry started quietly, almost whispering. During their chats about Hogwarts, he had already explained how underage magic was illegal. "When I first met Blinky and Aaarrrgghh, I didn't know who or _what_ they were! They scared me! I cast the spell in self defense! Honest!"

"Relax." Came Stricklander's soft reply. "You are not in any trouble with me, and I'm sure if you just explain what happened— minus your 'attackers' being trolls of course— they will understand. Surely you are allowed to use magic if your life is at stake. Just don't be so quick to use it next time."

Harry nodded, still keeping his eyes down in embarrassment. He hated the idea of Stricklander seeing him as simply some delinquent child.

"When is your birthday, young magus?"

The question threw Harry for a loop. His eyes flicked up to Stricklander's in confusion before he remembered the rest of what was written in the letter.

"Tomorrow."

Strickler nodded in acceptance. "So you think that the wizards will be picking you up the day after tomorrow then?"

Harry shrugged. "The hearing is on the 12th of August, so I guess that they would intend to pick me up sometime before then. They haven't given me an exact day though. It could be any time between the day after tomorrow and then."

"I see. Are you planning on being here tomorrow?"

Harry furrowed his brows, not understanding the question. "Why wouldn't I? Are you going to be busy?"

Now it was Stricklander's turn to be confused. "You said it was your birthday. I assumed you might have plans of some sort. I'd be willing to give you the day off training if you'd like. You have been working awfully hard."

"Oh no. I never do anything for my birthday." Harry said nonchalantly. "I consider myself lucky if my relatives give me less chores to do. Most of the time, they just give me more chores, and explain how only good boys get presents."

Stricklander looked sharply at Harry, however Harry didn't seem to notice the attention that that particular comment had received.

"If it's alright with you," Harry continued, "I'd really rather just come here and spend the day training. At least then tomorrow will be productive."

"Of course that is fine with me, young magus." Stricklander replied evenly, "As for your impending departure with the wizards, how about we just keep meeting here like normal until you actually do leave. You can send your owl to find me when you finally do depart. Now. Let's get back to talking about Newton's laws of motion…"

.

.

.

.

.

AN: This has to be my least favorite chapter thus far. It's mostly there for filler, but there were many important things that had to be touched on before we could move on to more exciting times.

I have never written time skips before, so I hope that the chapter was overall smooth and didn't seem too rushed. I don't have a beta, so I am just kinda going off my own brain and hoping that everything makes as much sense to you all as it does to me.. Heh.

Anyways. The nickname. On the surface, magus is a synonym for 'wizard'. But there are other reasons that I chose that particular word. As soon as I decided to use Strickler as a main character, I realized I wanted him to give Harry a nickname like he did Jim. It just sounded like something he would do to students he liked, or at the very least, pretended to like.

Also, I hope you all are approving of how I have written Strickler so far. He is not necessarily a redeemed good guy by this point, but I also felt that by the end of Part 1, he was definitely not evil. He also seemed to genuinely enjoy teaching in the show. I felt that he therefore might see training Harry as a way to do something he enjoyed, atone for what he did to Jim by treating Harry as the best mentor he could be, and get back into the others good graces. Basically a win-win-win for him... After all, he always was a bit manipulative.

It is also hard to write him as truly how he was and would be treated by the other trolls, because I am writing from Harry's point of view. Harry doesn't have any reason at this point to doubt him.

A lot of this story is not being told, due to Harry's lack of involvement. For instance, the confrontation between Blinky and Strickler when it was decided that a changeling would have to teach the new Trollhunter. I might at some point decide to write out how I pictured these tense conversations playing out, but until then, I leave those moments up to your imaginations.


	6. Birthday and Surprises

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this, and I merely am playing in their sandbox.**

Welcome back to the story everyone! Thanks for all the support thus far!

Lets get right back into the story!

.

.

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

 **Chapter 6:** _Birthday and Surprises_

The next morning dawned bright and cheerful for Harry. He had actually managed to sleep in until nearly eight that morning. It was by far the longest that he had slept in since the horrific events of the graveyard. Harry supposed that the meditation he was doing before going to bed each night was truly helping him clear his mind and focus his thoughts.

When Harry stretched and finally sat up in bed, he was unsurprised to see the goodies that had come for him during the night. He was glad that he had remembered to keep his window open last night. On his desk sat a small pile of birthday letters and packages. Of the packages, all but Hermione's— which was a book; go figure— contained food or candy of some sort. Harry was also unsurprised by the cake that had been left by none other than Mrs. Weasley.

After he had finished looking through his presents, and eating a piece of cake for breakfast, Harry turned to the letters.

All of them conveyed generally the same thing— basically wishing him a happy birthday, and that they hoped to see him again soon. The lack of any new information, or an exact date that he could expect to be picked up dampened his mood slightly, but he quickly shrugged it off.

Harry swiftly stashed all of his new treats into his hidden compartment in the floor and threw some clothes on. Due to his late start that morning, Harry was determined to finish his chores as fast as possible so he wouldn't be too late in getting over to the office.

~x~

"Again."

With a tight nod, Harry pulled himself off the floor and charged at Stricklander. As he got closer, he sliced the Sword of Daylight at the changeling, only to have it easily parried away. Going on the defense, Harry danced with the sword, moving anyway he could to keep from falling behind Stricklander's aggressive attacks.

As he was still very much a beginner, it often came down to Harry's ability to use his reflexes and out maneuver the older troll. Granted, he had never actually been able to win a match, or even bring it to a draw.

Yet.

While Stricklander had claimed early into his training that his weapons of choice were throwing knives, he was still quite formidable with a sword or any of the other weapons that he had thus far been training Harry with. Not for the first time, Harry felt lucky that he had such an adept trainer.

Finally, after a couple of close calls, Stricklander called the match to an end. Harry slumped to the ground with a groan. They had been at it all morning and were a good ways into the afternoon hours. Harry was pretty sure that his body was getting close to maxing out on him.

"Well, that wasn't too bad. You are certainly improving with your foot work, young magus." Stricklander began from where he was placing the sword he had been using back on the weapons' rack. Stricklander's form began to morph as he once again took on a human appearance. "Now. I don't know about you, but I am beginning to feel a bit peckish. What say you we go out and grab a quick bite to eat? We could go where ever you like. It is your birthday after all."

Harry nodded with a grin. He had been beginning to get a bit hungry himself. While he had brought snacks like he usually did when he came to the office, the prospect of actually eating out for his birthday was far too tempting an idea to pass up. After all, the Dursleys had never taken _him_ out for a birthday meal. Quickly releasing the Amulet of Daylight's magic, he slipped it into his pocket and began to follow Stricklander out the door.

"Is there any place in particular you'd like to go?" Stricklander questioned as they stepped out into the sunlight.

Harry considered the question for a minute, before shrugging. There was a new Italian restaurant nearby that the Dursley's had been raving about discovering to their neighbors, but other than that, he really didn't know any good restaurants. He decided to voice his uncertainty.

"I don't eat out all that often. The Dursley's say that the Italian restaurant on the next corner is pretty good though."

If Stricklander was at all bothered by the fact that he'd hinted that the Dursley's left Harry at home when they went out to eat, he didn't voice it.

"Very well. Lead the way."

~x~

Looking at the menu, Harry started to wonder if he had made a mistake. He hardly recognized what any of the dishes were, and the prices alone told him that he had chosen a rather upscale restaurant.

Outside of the Wizarding World, Harry had never really eaten out for any meals. Therefore, the only time he had really ever dealt with any Italian style foods was when Aunt Petunia gave him a specific recipe to make for dinner when he was younger.

Glancing over at Stricklander, Harry was unsurprised that his stern trainer seemed to be perfectly at home in the restaurant. To Harry, the changeling seemed to be just the sort of person that enjoyed the occasional posh venue.

As if sensing his eyes on him, Stricklander glanced up. "Alright there, young magus?" He asked softly.

"Er…yeah."

Harry ducked his eyes back down to his menu, but he could feel Stricklander's gaze still on him.

"I find you can never go wrong with a Fettuccini Alfredo at places like this." Stricklander commented offhandedly. Harry flicked his eyes back up, however, to his surprise, Stricklander had already returned his attention to his own menu.

Carefully, Harry found the listing for Fettuccini Alfredo on the menu, and read the description to himself.

" _creamy pasta dish prepared with high quality fettuccini, and our famous house Alfredo sauce"_

' _That doesn't sound too bad_ ,' Harry commented to himself. ' _Not too expensive either.'_

With a nod, Harry set his menu down.

Stricklander hid his smile behind his own menu before swiftly following suit.

~x~

After they had finished their lunch, Stricklander had bought him an ice cream. When Harry had tried to protest, the changeling had merely pointed out that it was his birthday. Eventually, Harry had given up on trying to talk him out of it, and accepted the cold treat.

When they finally arrived back at the office, it was getting close to evening and the sun was already casting long shadows.

Stepping inside behind Harry and closing the door, Stricklander strode across the training area and went directly into the small office in the back corner. When he returned, he was holding a small box. He held it out for Harry.

"This is for you." Stricklander began. "I will be honest; Blinky and I had intended to give this to you at some point far before I even knew it was your birthday today."

With furrowed brows, Harry carefully slipped the lid off the top of the box and peered inside. The sight that greeted him was a single black sheathed fighting knife. It appeared to be rather basic— especially when compared to the Sword of Daylight— but the gesture still meant a lot to Harry. He pulled it out, noticing that the weapon's sheath appeared as though it could be strapped to his forearm.

"Since it would be wise for you to try and keep your position as the Trollhunter a secret, we felt it would be prudent to provide you a way to protect yourself should you ever find yourself in a situation where you cannot use your wand. After all, you did mention that your people are involved in a civil war of sorts." Stricklander continued. "Of course, that is not to say that you should not use the Amulet of Daylight should you feel its necessary, we simply wanted to give you another less revealing option."

Harry truly didn't know what to say.

~x~

The next two days passed in a much similar fashion to what had occurred before his birthday. Harry would finished his chores early in the morning before heading over to the office. He would then spend the majority of the day there, before returning to the Dursley's in the late evening.

After receiving the knife from Stricklander, Harry had gone home and packed his trunk. Both he and Stricklander had decided that it would be wise for him to be ready to go at any moment, and then continue to spend his remaining days training at the office.

Harry had even informed Aunt Petunia of the impending arrival of the wizards, and that if they were to arrive while he was 'testing' to tell them where they could find him. While Aunt Petunia hadn't been thrilled with the news, she eventually conceded, if only for the prospect of getting rid of Harry quicker.

Harry had also decided that it would be a good idea for him to send the changeling a prewritten note with Hedwig, should the wizards decide to come for him in the middle of the night. That way, his trainer wouldn't worry if, one morning, he just didn't show up.

"I'll see you tomorrow, young magus."

Stricklander's voice brought Harry back to the present. The two of them were just leaving the office for the evening; darkness had already set in. It was a bit later than Harry typically left, but they had lost track of time. Harry was just about to voice his own farewells when an echoing scream sounded from the direction of the Dursley's house.

Furrowing his brows, Harry took off in the direction the scream had originated from. He was only vaguely aware of Stricklander racing behind him.

As he turned the corner onto Private Drive, Harry was unprepared for the wave of coldness and despair that suddenly hit him.

"Dementors," he hissed, only faltering in his step briefly as he continued to race towards the source.

When he finally stepped into the dim light of the tunnel— the same tunnel he had first met Blinky and Aaarrrgghh, he noted in the back of his mind — Harry's stomach turned upside down at the sight that greeted him. Dudley was slumped up against the damp cement wall with two dementors hovering over the top of him.

"What are those?" A disgusted voice sounded behind him, breaking the trance that the scene had had on Harry.

"Dementors," Harry repeated weakly. "I— there's a spell that can ward them off but…"

' _I don't have my wand.'_

With the threat of his wand being snapped looming over his head, Harry had stopped carrying it with him entirely. It wasn't like he would be unprotected; he had the Amulet now, after all. And a knife.

Stricklander seemed to understand what had been left unsaid. "Then use the Amulet. We will fight these things the old fashioned way."

With that Stricklander threw two knives in short session at the dark creatures. Unfortunately for him the knives did no damage except to draw the dementor's attention away from Dudley and towards the two newcomers.

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!"

Blue light reflected off of the surrounding damp walls as Harry was once again enclosed by the otherworldly armor. This time, however, the blue energy seemed to remain around Harry, lighting up the engravings of the armor like luminescent veins. Instantly, the cold despairing feeling that had come from the dementors seemed to fade into almost nonexistence.

"The Amulet is acting like a sort of Patronus Charm!" Harry let out a breathy laugh, as he rushed towards the dementors. He pushed them back away from both Stricklander and Dudley and placed himself in between as a sort of makeshift shield.

Looking back, Harry supposed it made sense. Dementors were creatures of darkness, and cold, and fed off of positive emotions. The reason the Patronus Charm worked was that it brought light, and produced the positive emotions that a dementor could then feed on, thus shielding the caster. The Amulet of Daylight was similar in that regard. It's energy and ability to produce the armor came in part from the emotional state of its wielder. It was also made up of harnessed _daylight_ for the sake of _protecting._ The exact opposite thing that made up the dementors.

Harry slashed the Sword of Daylight at them. While it appeared that he couldn't land a hit with how they seemed to unnaturally slide out of the way of the sword, Harry was successful in pushing them out of the tunnel. At the tunnel's entrance he stood guard; refusing to allow the monsters to reenter and return to their half finished meal.

After a couple of attempts were made to get past him in vain, the Dementors finally gave up and started to drift eerily away, probably looking for an easier meal elsewhere. Harry watched them go for a moment before he finally turned back around to face the others.

"Is he…" Harry was almost afraid to ask. Stricklander was kneeling next to Dudley, one of his hands feeling for Dudley's pulse, the other on his forehead.

"He's got a pulse." Stricklander replied from his kneeling position. "But he's cold… Unnaturally so. Come on, help me lift him up."

Together, Harry and Stricklander carefully lifted the walrus of a boy and carried him back towards his home.

As they reached the door, Harry quickly worked to shuffle Dudley's lower body so that he could open the door.

"Aunt Petunia!" Harry shouted as he and Stricklander worked to maneuver Dudley's bulging body through the opening.

Instantly, Harry heard footsteps coming from the family room. "What are you screaming a—" She cut herself off with a shriek as she finally laid eyes on Dudley's unconscious form.

Aunt Petunia rushed forward, almost knocking the fat boy out of Harry and Stricklander's arms in her attempt to check him over. They gently lowered him to the floor and stood back so as to give her more room. After a moment, she turned back towards Harry, practically snarling, "What did you _do_ , you little—"

This time, Stricklander was the one to cut her off. "I assure you Mrs. Dursley, neither myself, nor Harry have any idea what is wrong with your boy. We heard a scream when we parting ways, and proceeded to investigate. We found him out cold in a tunnel not far from here. Whoever his assaulters were, they are long gone."

Harry was both impressed and a bit alarmed at how easy the half lie seemed to slip off of Stricklander's tongue. Nevertheless, Harry found himself nodding along with Stricklander's explanation.

Aunt Petunia narrowed her eyes. "Very well." She turned her face so it was facing the direction she had just come from, "Vernon! Come quick! We need to take Dudley to the hospital!"

As Uncle Vernon came waddling into the front hallway, Aunt Petunia turned back towards their guest. "I suppose you can let yourself out, Mr. Strickler?" she asked stiffly.

"Of course." Came Stricklander's reply. "I will see you tomorrow then, Harry." With that, Stricklander turned around and headed back out the front door.

At some point, Harry had backed up onto the stairs, where he now watched the chaos that was the Dursleys as they quickly moved Dudley back out to the car. As soon as the door slammed shut, a deathly quiet seemed to settle over the house.

With a sigh, Harry made his way up to his room.

.

.

.

.

.

AN: Woo! I'll admit, this one was a bit tricky to write. Like chapter 5, there were so many little tidbits of information that I was trying to fit in without making it awkward… I had actually also intended to finally bring the Order into this chapter, but alas, it was getting a bit too long, so that will have to wait for the next one.

As for the knife, don't expect it to play too huge of a role; its mostly there for filler. When it comes to weapons outside of his wand, Harry is the Trollhunter first and foremost, and therefore, he will use the Sword of Daylight where he can.

Till next time,

~Dawn


	7. Enter the Order

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this, and I merely am playing in their sandbox.**

Welcome back to the story everyone! Sorry about the slight delay, I was going to post this yesterday, but FanFiction wasn't letting me upload this chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Lets get right into the story!

.

.

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

 **Chapter 7:** _Enter the Order_

Another couple days had passed in quiet routine before anything else out of the ordinary happened in Harry's life. Currently he was sitting on his bed, stroking Hedwig, who had made herself at home on his shoulder.

All throughout the past few days, Harry had had the house almost entirely to himself. Dudley was still in the hospital in recovery and both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon— who had even taken the time off of work— spent every waking moment by his side.

The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, but figured the attack had been caused by some sort of hazing or prank gone wrong. The police had even been informed to keep on the lookout for any older boys acting suspicious. Despite their not being able to pin point the problem, the doctors were still able to pronounce that Dudley was in fact improving, albeit slowly.

Not for the first time, Harry was tempted to tell them that Dudley would be able to recover far faster than what his doctors were predicting if only he ate a nice helping of chocolate. He figured that since the doctors didn't know what was actually wrong with him, they were probably keeping him in quarantine and regulating his diet pretty heavily, just to be safe. Nevertheless, Harry held his tongue, knowing that even if he actually did try and help, the Dursleys would only try and blame him for the walrus of a boy's condition.

Besides, he reminded himself, if he told, then his relatives would also know that Stricklander was somehow involved. After all, it was him that originally came up with the lie.

A loud bang from downstairs echoed around the otherwise silent house, ripping Harry from his thoughts. He quickly stood and put Hedwig back on her cage, before moving over to his desk where he had left both the Amulet of Daylight and the black knife. He slipped both into the deep pockets of his jeans, before throwing on a dark colored jacket in order to hide the slightly protruding handle of the knife from view.

Now armed, Harry cautiously made his way to the door and cracked it open. As he crept closer to the stairs, he could distinctly hear muffled voices and shuffling feet. With narrowed eyes, Harry soundlessly made his way down the stairs and wrapped his right hand around the hilt of the knife.

He doubted whoever was in the house with him were trolls. Trolls, at least the ones he had met, were far better at sneaking around than this. In fact, if they were burglars, Harry almost felt bad for them. It wouldn't be long till they were caught at this rate.

Another crash came from the kitchen.

" _Tonks!"_ a familiar voice hissed. "Be quiet!"

Harry smiled good-naturedly and released his grip on the knife. Yup. Wizards. He'd called it.

They _really_ needed to learn how to sneak.

At a slightly faster pace, Harry continued down the stairs and flicked the light switch on.

The sight that greeted him nearly had Harry breaking out into large guffaws of laughter.

Remus Lupin, the one whose voice Harry had recognized was leaning over a young woman who appeared to have tripped over a kitchen chair. Said woman had somehow managed to get herself underneath the kitchen table with one of her feet stuck in the legs of a knocked over chair. Her hot pink hair fell in every direction, completely obscuring her face. Across the room, Mad-eye Moody was peering around the room in suspicion, beyond those three, other wizards were sprinkled at random around the kitchen. One, Harry noted, was even peering— and possibly stealing something from the fridge.

"Er— Hello." Harry was unable to keep the amusement out of his voice. He leaned casually against the entry way into the kitchen as he watched them all jolt at his sudden voice. All of them had deer in the headlights expressions on their faces as they turned to look at Harry.

"Harry!" Came the response. Lupin seemed to break out of his trance the quickest and, after finally helping the woman free her foot from the assaulted chair, quickly stepped over to Harry to give him a hug.

After a moment Lupin stepped back and gestured to the others standing behind him. "The young woman behind me is Nymphadora Tonks, who I'd advise you simply call Tonks. I am sure you recognize Moody…" He continued on with the introductions, of which, Harry was only half paying attention to as he took in all the newcomers.

"Wotcher Harry!" Pink hair chirped cheerfully, "We're here to rescue you of course!"

Harry grinned back at her, however the moment was broken when Mad-Eye pushed his way past Remus to stand directly in front of Harry.

Mad-Eye narrowed his real eye. "How are you sure it's him, Lupin, and not an imposter?"

"I think if either of us have any reason to doubt the other, it's me. _Professor_." Harry retorted.

From behind Moody, the young woman snorted. "He's got you there, Mad-Eye!"

Ignoring them, Lupin stared hard at Harry. "Who is Snuffles?" he asked.

"My dogfather." Harry replied easily with a grin.

"Good enough for me." Lupin declared before continuing, "Where are your relatives, Harry? We were trying to be quiet to sneak past them, but now—" he cut himself off with a helpless shrug.

' _Trying to be_ quiet _? Please_.' Harry barely held in the snort. If the Dursleys actually _had_ been home, there was no way they wouldn't have heard the wizards. Out loud he simply stated, "They are out. Are we going to be leaving, or..?"

Lupin nodded. "Yes; momentarily. I am just waiting on the signal for the all clear. How about you go and gather your things, so we will be ready."

Shrugging, Harry made his way back up to his room. He was unsurprised to see that both Tonks and Mad-Eye were following him. Upon entering his room, Harry went directly over to where Hedwig still sat on top of her cage.

Picking her up, he walked her over to the window. "Go hunt for a little while, and then come find me, okay girl?" As he released her, Harry inconspicuously gave her a small note, which she clutched in her right talon. Harry had already briefed her on where to take that particular note days ago. Not for the first time, Harry felt blessed that he had been given such a smart and loyal familiar.

The note was the one he had planned to send to Stricklander, in case a situation such as the one he was now dealing with were to arise. On the note was a single word:

 _Departed_.

Harry turned back to face his two escorts. Tonks was busy having a look around his room, Mad-Eye however, was staring directly at him, his eye narrowed. Whether or not he had noticed the slipped note, he didn't comment. Instead, he opened his mouth and asked Harry a question.

"Where is your wand?"

"In my trunk. The trunk's already packed by the way."

"Well get it out!" Moody snarled, "Are you a wizard, or aren't you? And get out your broom while you are at it! We are going to be flying to our destination."

With a slight roll of his eyes, Harry pulled out both of the aforementioned items, and refastened the lid.

"And where exactly is our destination?" He asked over his shoulder. "I assumed we were just going to the Burrow, but that seems kinda far to go by broom."

"The Weasley's house?" Tonks butted in, finally coming to stand beside Harry as she finished inspecting the room. "Oh no. We are going to go someplace far safer. It's—"

" _Enough_ , Tonks. We are not discussing anything here." Moody growled. "Now. If you are already packed, we should probably get back downstairs."

With that, Moody spun around and stalked out of the room. Harry was pretty sure that his magical eye was still watching him, however. He stifled a shudder and turned to watch as Tonks swiftly charmed his Trunk to hover and then proceeded to follow it out the room. Harry picked up Hedwig's cage and fell into step behind her.

Lupin was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Seeing Harry, he opened the front door. "Good. I see you have got your broom. Everyone else is already waiting outside. Come along."

Harry stepped out into the cooling evening and made his way to where the rest of the party had huddled together. Off in the distance, Harry saw a series of green sparks light up the sky.

"Now. There's the signal. Everyone know's the plan, so let's get going." Lupin stated, coming up behind Harry. "Harry, I am going to disillusion you. I need you to stay directly behind Tonks while we are in the air. That way, if we are attacked, you will be surrounded by us, and even disillusioned, we will all know exactly where you are."

Tonks shot him a grin over her shoulder before getting on her broom. All around him, Harry could see the wizards doing the same. Lupin cast the disillusionment charm before turning back to his own broom. As one, they all lifted off the ground and took to the sky.

~x~

After what felt like hours in the cold sky, the flock of wizards finally began to their decent. By this point, Harry was unsure if he would be able to remove his hands from his broom due to their half frozen state.

As they landed, Harry took a moment to take in his surroundings. The first thing Harry noted was that he had never been to this location before. They were standing in what seemed to be a rather unassuming neighborhood, with houses lining one side of the street, and a park on the other. Slightly confused, Harry turned to Remus.

"Read this." a gruff voice sounded behind him. Harry had only a moments notice before Moody shoved a small slip of paper into his frozen hands.

On the note was a single sentence. Harry barely had a second to actually read it before Moody had snatched back the note, and set it on fire.

"I don't—" Harry started, confused.

"Just think about what you have read," Lupin said quietly from his side. He released the disillusionment charm, he had placed on Harry. "All will become clear in a moment."

Furrowing his brows, Harry was surprised to see an old house seem to squeeze itself between the two newer ones on either side. ' _Huh. That's different_ ' Harry mused.

"Enough dawdling. Everyone inside!" Moody ordered, moving towards the newly formed house.

With the door shutting behind them, Harry was engulfed in utter darkness. Only the sound of breathing let him know that he was still surrounded by the wizards who had accompanied him thus far. Suddenly the lamps adorning the walls flicked on, giving Harry his first look at the inside of the house.

He was not impressed. If he had thought that the outside was bad, the inside was far worse. The house wasn't just old; it gave off the image of being abandoned. The walls were a peeling yellow, which only looked worse in the flickering light. Everything his eyes could see, including the floor was covered in cobwebs, dust and grime. Worse still, the entire place reeked with the smell of mold.

"Come along" Lupin murmured quietly, as though he might disturb some unknown entity.

Shivering, Harry followed closely behind, slightly relieved when they made their way to a more lived in part of the house. Lupin led him into a rather large eating room, which was already filled with many folks seated.

As they entered, Harry felt all their eyes turn onto him, and he resisted the need to squirm under the attention. Out of the crowd Harry was able to pick out a few familiar faces, including Dumbledore, Sirius, and the Weasleys—the latter two of which sent him small grins and waves. He could also see both Professor McGonagall and Snape standing in the background. The wizards that had accompanied him on the journey from Little Whinging, pushed into the room behind him.

"Have a seat, Harry." Lupin murmured to him from his left.

After everyone had settled into their seats around the, by comparison, small table, they all seemed to hold their breaths. Harry glanced around uneasily; he could feel every single person's eyes still staring unabashedly at him in that moment.

"What happened?" A voice finally piped up, one Harry didn't recognize. It seemed to break the trance. Harry was quick to answer, unwilling to go back to the stifling silence.

"What do you mean?"

"He means your spell." Mad-Eye elaborated impatiently. "What caused you to cast the Stupefy, boy?"

Oh… _That_.

Harry supposed he should have expected the wizards to want to interrogate him as soon as he stepped through the door.

Harry flicked his eyes downward and mentally took a breath, mentally preparing himself. He and Stricklander had prepared a story that he could tell the wizards. That way, they would remain none the wiser of the trolls' existence, but even with the story on the forefront of his mind, Harry couldn't help but worry that he'd somehow jumble it up. Besides, he hadn't expected to have to tell it in front of such a large group. He almost felt that he were already at the trial.

"I'd been getting this feeling of being followed all day, you see…" He started, speaking slowly. "and well, as the day went on, I could feel myself getting edgier and edgier. Finally, on my way back to the house, I heard something.I had ducked into a tunnel, hoping that I could either lose whatever was following me, or if it came to it, defend myself without being scene by wizards. I honestly don't know how long I ended up standing in the tunnel. At one point, I heard a rustling at the edge of the tunnel. I cast the Stupefy without even thinking. I didn't actually hit anything either."

As Harry trailed off, he glanced back at his hands. The stifling silence was back, and he could feel their judging eyes still on him. He resisted the desire to look up.

"Very well, my boy." Dumbledore said at last with a twinkle in his eyes. "Why don't you go upstairs and rejoin your friends. We will call you back down after the meeting is over."

Harry felt rage bubble in his chest, but he pushed it down as best he could and mutely stood and left the room. Of _course_ they weren't going to actually let him stay for whatever meeting they had all gathered for! Why would they _actually_ decide to give him any new information regarding Voldemort?— for he supposed that that was in fact what they were all hear to discuss— It's not like he wasn't trying to kill him or anything!

After the month he had spent under Stricklander's watch, Harry had quickly relaxed into the notion that he was an equal. Returning to the wizards treating him like a child was a rather had pill to swallow. He was determined, however to not act like the child they perceived him as, which was why he had offered no spoken protest when he had been asked to leave.

' _Besides_ ', he promised himself. ' _I can just pester Sirius later._ ' If anyone was going to give him information, it would probably be him.

Harry was not prepared for the sight that greeted him upon his arrival upstairs.

Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins were all huddled around a strange contraption that seemed to be a large ear attached to a string which was hung over the edge of the staircase. When she noticed him, Hermione gave him a large smile and beckoned him over. Intrigued, Harry joined them.

As he got closer, Harry could hear a voice coming from the ear. "Do you think that it was just us, he felt following him?"

 _Huh_. Harry mused, It seemed that they had found a way to listen in. Harry supposed he shouldn't be surprised. After all, this was one of the tamer things that he had seen the twins with.

"No. That was the evening that Dung was supposed to be on duty. We already know that he skipped out."

"I still think the boy was pulling a stunt for attention, just like his father!" That could only be Snape's deep tenor voice.

After that, a handful of voices all piped up at once, making it difficult to hear what was being said through the ear.

"Silence!" Came Dumbledore's booming voice after a few minutes of the arguing. "It is clear to me that we don't have the whole story. Unfortunately, I believe that Harry has told us all he knows. That said, we must—"

The words seemed to just cut off. The large ear going instantly silent.

"Damn." Fred— or was it George?— muttered. "Someone put up an Imperturbable Charm again."

The other twin nodded sagely. "So it seems, brother mine, so it seems. Oh well. I suppose that is all we are going to get to hear tonight." As one, the two twins popped away. Ginny— her face painted with a slight blush— left as well, after a quick hello to Harry.

"They have been doing that all summer." Ron groaned as he stood and stretched. "They got their apparition licenses. Bloody show offs, if you ask me. Hey, Harry! Good ta see you mate!"

"Language, Ronald." Hermione grounded out before turning to Harry and engulfing him in a hug. "Harry! Oh it's so good to finally see you! We've been worried sick, you see. Nobody knew why you had had to cast the stupefy. Dung had been supposed to follow you, and he'd skipped out—It wasn't the only time either! Supposedly he did it _again_!— Dumbledore was so—"

"Wait." Harry broke in, "You _knew_ I was being followed? How long have you and Ron been here?" Of course, Harry had also known that he was being followed, however it still bothered him to think that _his friends_ had been told more regarding him than he had.

"A few weeks now," Hermione easily replied. "With me being a muggleborn and a friend of yours, Dumbledore thought it safer— this is Sirius' ancestral home, you see, and it is under the Fidelius Charm. That way none of the Death Eaters can find it, let alone get in— And Ron's parents are members of the Order, and are helping clean this place up a bit."

"If it is so safe, then why was I left with my relatives? And what's the Order?" Harry asked, his voice deceptively calm.

"The Order of the Phoenix. It's Dumbledore's group which worked to stop Voldemort in the first war. They reformed and this is their headquarters." Harry supposed that explained the meeting downstairs. Hermione shrugged before continuing, "and you'd have to ask Dumbledore. I have been wanting to know the same thing, but Dumbledore was quite clear that you were safest there…"

Yeah. Except for the trolls finding him, not to mention the dementors. At least the trolls turned out to be friendly. It seemed to Harry, that the wizards didn't even _know_ that he had had to fight off dementors a few nights ago, and of course, he was keeping his training with the trolls a secret. He briefly considered bringing it up, if only to rub in his point about being 'safe', but then thought better of it. He couldn't exactly explain how he had managed to fight them off without a wand.

Harry wanted to tell his two friends about the Amulet, however he held back. He was still rather miffed at them for the lack of contact. Maybe _after_ they had regained his trust. _Maybe_.

"…It's why when you cast the stupefy, we were so alarmed! I'm so glad to hear that it turned out to be nothing!"

And it seemed Hermione had still been talking… He glanced over at Ron, who also seemed to have tuned her out as some point.

"Well. If you guys had such good information here. Why didn't you even try to let me know what was going on?" Both Ron and Hermione cringed.

"We wanted to mate!" Surprisingly, it was Ron who spoke up first.

Hermione cut in a moment later, "Dumbledore made us promise not to! He said it was too risky to be passing information. Besides, we are not exactly allowed to sit in on meetings."

"It's why we have been using the Extendable Ear." Ron again. "Mum knows we have it of course. So we rarely actually get to hear anything important before she remembers to put up a Imperturbable Charm. Today was the most we had heard in a while!"

Harry sighed, turning around and pinching his nose. "I just don't understand why Dumbledore wants to keep me in the dark! And _don't_ try and give me the safety crap! I know he could find a way to pass information safely if he really wanted to. And you guys are supposed to be my friends!"

"We're sorry—"

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Harry snapped back, cutting Hermione off. "You two left me in the dark, with only the relatives who hate me for company. I had just seen Cedric _die_ , for Merlin's sake! I've been pitted against Voldemort more times than I can count— _Especially_ after I started at Hogwarts. Doesn't that deserve at least _a little_ respect?! I am so tired of being kept in the dark _for my own sake_! Have I not been through enough to be able to decide for myself whether I should know something or not? I was practically _begging_ you guys to at the very least keep me somewhat up to date this summer!"

Harry stopped his rant to take a breath. Both Ron and Hermione were looking down at the floor by this point. Hermione, he noticed, seemed to be close to tears.

"We are _so_ sorry Harry…" Hermione tried again, her voice barely a whisper.

Harry just huffed. "So what's up anyways?"

Hermione blinked. "Pardon?"

" _Voldemort_."

"Oh! Well we really don't know much— none of the adults are willing to give us much to go off of— but from what we have been able to gather, he is keeping quiet. The Order thinks he is trying to rebuild his forces… Have you been reading the Daily Prophet?"

No. He had stopped after he had begun training with Stricklander due to being far too busy. He glanced at the covers occasionally, but nothing ever popped out as that important. "Not really. Why?"

Hermione took a deep breath, but it was Ron who answered first. "You see, mate, the Ministry of Magic is refusing to believe Dumbledore that V-voldemort is back. They have been slandering him— and _you_ to an extent— all summer! Dumbledore even lost his position on the Wizengamot!"

 _Serves him right,_ a little voice thought vindictively in the back of his head. Logically, however, he realized just how serious this was.

"Anyways. We really are sorry, mate. It was stupid of us to listen to Dumbledore after we had been through so much." Ron paused for a moment, before continuing, "Come on, I'll show you where we are sleeping. Since the majority of the rooms here are still uninhabitable, we are bunking together."

With that, Ron set off confidently over the old creaky flooring with Hermione and Harry following closely behind. Ron turned the corner in the hallway and opened the second door on the left. "This is us, mate. A few doors down is where Hermione and Ginny are sleeping, and beyond them is where the adults all have their rooms. Unfortunately, Fred and George are directly across the hall, so make sure to guard your belongings. They have been going crazy with pranks lately."

Harry took in the room— It really wasn't much. Besides the small window in the back of the room, the bedroom's walls were strikingly bare, and painted a deep mahogany. Two beds laid on the floor of the room, but other than them, a small desk and their trunks, the room was empty.

"That's your bed over there." Ron gestured to the bed on the left before making his way towards his own. He jumped onto of his bed landing on his knees, before turning back towards Harry and continuing hesitantly, "Do you want to play a game or something..? I've got chess, exploding snap..?"

"I think I just want to call it an early night," Harry muttered wearily. He still hadn't quite warmed up from the long flight in the freezing air. All he really wanted to do was curl up into a ball under the warm looking blankets that adorned his bed.

"Well, in that case, I think I am going to retire to my own room," Harry twisted his head to see Hermione standing at the entrance of the door. "Night Harry; Ron."

"Good night." Ron replied. Harry remained silent, and simply opened his trunk. He pulled out his night clothes and carefully slipped the knife that was still in his pocket, and the Amulet in-between his clothes.

Wearily, he slipped into bed. He had had a long day.

.

.

.

.

.

AN: Whew! That was a long one. Not much Trollhunter parts either unfortunately… Next chapter we jump into the trial and then things really pick up with a return to Hogwarts! yea!

Till next time,

~Dawn


	8. The Trial

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this, and I merely am playing in their sandbox.**

Welcome back to the story everyone!

Lets get right into the story!

.

.

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

 **Chapter 8:** _The Trial_

The days seemed to pass slowly at the suppressing house on Grimmauld Place. All he and the others seemed to do was help clean the house and sit around. They couldn't even go outside. It had been nice spending some time with Sirius, however Harry had quickly learned that Sirius was a bit moody due to living in his family's house. He had basically traded one prison for another, after all.

Ron and Hermione had also coached him about some of the various oddities about the old house. For one there was Sirius's mom's portrait. It _screamed_ bloody murder anytime someone was unfortunate enough to wake it up. Harry hadn't actually believed them until he was unfortunate enough to actually meet her. There was also Kreacher. According to Sirius, the old cranky house elf had been living in, and taking care of the house for decades. Ever since Sirius' mother had died however, the nasty little elf had refused to clean anything, and hardly listened to even Sirius on a good day.

More than once, Harry found himself wishing he was back in Little Whinging. At least there he had some freedom and could train with Stricklander.

Speaking of Stricklander, Hedwig had found him in his room early the next morning in at the Order's headquarters. In her talon, she gripped yet another note. This one was no more exciting than the one he himself had sent. This one however, was written in Stricklander's distinguishable elegant handwriting:

 _Understood._

 _-WS_

Harry had been both relieved and disappointed upon receiving this little note. Relieved, because he knew it meant that Hedwig had had no problems finding the changeling, and that Stricklander would understand why he hadn't shown up that morning. He was disappointed however because it marked the end of his summer Trollhunter training.

It was far too risky for him to attempt to adorn the armor anywhere in Grimmauld Place. There also wasn't any place here where Harry could disappear for a few hours to practice with his knife. He had been reduced to only doing some basic exercises in his shared room during the early morning while Ron was still sleeping. Unfortunately, this was hardly enough to actually keep his body up to the standards of a Trollhunter— even if he had never actually reached that status in his short month of training.

He could already feel his muscles beginning to loose some of their strength.

He supposed it was silly, keeping even his minor exercising a secret, but really, he didn't want to have to lie about anything else to his friends and almost family. It was bad enough with the trial on the forefront of his mind.

As for Ron and Hermione, Harry still hadn't forgiven them enough to let them in on his little secret. He figured he would wait and decide whether to tell them once they got back to Hogwarts. After all, it would be hard to find a place where they wouldn't be overheard by others, seeing that they were all confined in such closed quarters.

Today, while Harry completed his early morning exercises, he had far more on his mind than usual. The hearing was set for later that morning, and Harry could already feel his stomach twisting with nerves.

While the wizards from the Order had all seemed to buy his half truths that first night he had come, he was unsure how well it would go over in an actual hearing. If they started to really interrogate him, Harry was unsure he would be able to keep the facade up. The Sorting Hat might have almost placed him in Slytherin, but Harry knew he had an absolutely horrible pokerface.

Suddenly, the door to his and Ron's bedroom cracked open with a whine, allowing a line of light to enter the otherwise dark room. Harry froze mid sit-up, his eyes darting towards the door in question.

"Harry?" A hushed voice asked, immediately followed by Mrs. Weasley's head peering into the room. "Are you— oh good you are already awake! I've got some breakfast downstairs for you. You should probably get moving pretty quick for your hearing! Arthur is going to take you, and he is leaving for work in less than an hour."

With that, Mrs. Weasley shut the door and Harry was once again surrounded by darkness and Ron's snores. For a moment, Harry closed his eyes and simply focused on his breathing.

In and out.

In and out…

He knew that the likelihood of them actually expelling him was low, but it still scared him nonetheless. After about a minute, Harry finally rolled off the bed and quickly put on the clothes he had laid out the night before: a simple blue shirt and some jeans. They were rather basic clothes, but they were still some of the best he had. After he had finished dressing, he quietly strode across the door, careful not to wake Ron, and made his way to the kitchen.

Turning into the kitchen, Harry was surprised that he and Ron's parents were not the only ones up. Sirius, Remus and even Tonks also sat at the kitchen table with large mugs of coffee. Remus had his face partly obscured with a newspaper.

"Morning Harry!" Sirius exclaimed, seeming far too awake and peppy for how early in the morning it was.

"Morning." Harry replied, as he pulled up a chair and sat heavily.

"Harry," Mr. Weasley started, from where he sat at the end of the table with a mug of coffee in his right hand. "I am going to need to be leaving in a few minutes, so if you are wanting to eat anything before we go, I'd advise you grab it now."

Harry nodded, subdued. He really wasn't hungry and was about to say so, but before he could actually open his mouth, Mrs. Weasley was already talking.

"Oh! Let me grab you some porridge real quick. You need something on your stomach at least! It wouldn't be good for you to go all day without eating! Merlin knows you are already too thin!"

She darted back into the kitchen, leaving the others in silence.

"You will be fine, Harry" Lupin murmured, finally breaking the quiet, "The law is on your side already. This is merely a matter of protocol. Just stick to the truth and you will be fine."

' _The_ _truth_.' Harry thought humorlessly. _'How ironic.'_

Before anything else could be said aloud however, Mrs. Weasley had already rushed back into the room and set a steaming bowl of porridge in front of Harry.

After thanking her, Harry picked up the spoon and attempted to take a mouthful. In his anxiety, the sweet, creamy mixture tasted more like sawdust that seemed to stick to the back of his swallowed a few more times, finally able to get that first bite to go down. After that, Harry simply moved the mixture around in his bowl.

"Well, Harry," Arthur Weasley said suddenly, looking at the clock, "We should probably get moving. It's a bit early, but perhaps in your case, early is better than late."

Harry nodded and, after taking a final bite, stood and followed Mr. Weasley out the door. Over his shoulder, Harry could hear the rest of the house's residents calling out 'good lucks' but he didn't bother to respond. His mind was already too focused on what was to come.

~x~

Stepping out of the telephone box, which had taken them to the ministry's visitor entry room, Harry took a moment to look around.

Despite the dark wooden floors and walls the room was still quite bright and welcoming; far brighter than one would expect from being underground. They gleamed with shine, and were only enhanced by the blue ceiling and golden symbols that adorned it. Perhaps the most eye catching thing about the whole room was the huge golden statue that sat in the center of the room. In it, a noble wizard stood, along with a proud witch. At their feet, a goblin, house-elf and centaur stood gazing up at the two with awe in their expressions. Harry fought back a cringe at the blatant, disrespect for the magical creatures. Not including house-elks, Harry knew from experience that goblins and centaurs would never look up to wizards with that level of respect without a very good reason.

All around him, wizards and witches were hastening to their destinations. Directly in front of the— and from the looks of it, exactly where Mr. Weasley was steering him— was a small line which seemed to end at some sort of security checkpoint. And beyond that, there were multiple lifts, which appeared to go in all directions, including to the side.

As they made their way to the security guard, Mr. Weasley placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and spoke to the officer. "I work for the Ministry, today however, I am escorting a friend to his hearing."

The guard looked down his nose at Harry. "Wand?"

Harry quickly pulled his wand out of his front pocket and handed it over.

A minute passed as the man inspected it and wrote notes on a piece of parchment. Finally, he handed back the wand and placed the notes in a file.

"Proceed."

Nodding, Harry quickly put his wand back in its place and stepped forward, falling in step with Mr. Weasley. They weaved their way through the small crowds of people as they made their way towards the nearest lift. As they stepped on, Mr. Weasley turned to Harry.

~x~

"You're late."

Harry could hardly hear the cold man's voice as he stepped into the courtroom. Once they had been told that his hearing's location and time had been changed, they had practically sprinted all the way here. He had left Mr. Weasley at the courtroom's entrance.

Harry took a moment before speaking to take in the room. The courtroom was dark, and had an eerie quality to it. The torches that lined the dark walls were the only visible source of light, and added a multitude of shadows to the already ominous room. In the background the witches and wizards of the Wizengamot's voices fell silent as he made his way across the floor of the room.

"I'm sorry," Harry started, not really knowing what else he could say. "I didn't know that my hearing's time had changed until minutes ago!"

"That is not our fault." The cold voice replied, "The information was sent to you, even if you seemingly didn't receive it… Now sit down! We hardly have any more time to waste."

Sitting in the center of the floor was a single chair covered in chains. With a touch of hesitation, Harry slowly made his way over to the chair and sat down on the edge.

Nervously, Harry looked up at the Wizengamot, trying his best to pick out any familiar faces. He recognized Minister Fudge almost instantly, and figured that the lady sitting on the right of him had to be Madam Bones. Harry was also able to pick out both Lady Longbottom, and Lord Malfoy sitting in the crowd that were all dressed in the Wizengamot's plum colored robes.

Harry was only mildly surprised when he spotted Percy sitting near Fudge. Judging by all the quills and ink that surrounded him, Harry presumed he was acting as some sort of court reporter for his hearing. Harry had heard about the falling out between Percy and the rest of his family from Ron. He hadn't however expected to see him here.

In the background, Harry could already hear that the hearing had been called to order, and forced himself to pay attention again.

"—offenses committed against the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery…" His voice seemed to drone on and on, as he listed out all that Harry had been accused of, his charges and who was going to be interrogation him. At this point, Harry was only half listening as he focused on what he was going to say. His thoughts were broken, however when a very familiar voice cut off the monotonous prattle.

"For the defense, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He craned his head around to see Dumbledore stepping through the same door that Harry himself had entered not minutes ago. While the professor did seem to be a bit short of breath, his appearance did not give any indication that he had rushed to get to the trial on time.

Harry had been wondering if Dumbledore was going to show up! He supposed that Dumbledore had only just received the notice of the hearing's time change as well. Glancing over at Fudge, Harry gleefully noted that the man seemed to have swallowed a sour lemon, from the pinched face he was making.

"Ah. You're here." Fudge began, failing horribly at hiding his displeasure at Dumbledore's appearance. "We were wondering if you were going to show."

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore said amiably as he sat down next to Harry on a chair he conjured, "It is quite lucky I arrived so early, otherwise, I may had missed the hearing altogether!"

Harry tried to catch Dumbledore's eye, but the professor seemed to stare determinedly forward. After a moment, Harry gave up, and returned his focus to what Fudge was saying, just in time to catch the tail end of a question directed towards him.

"—from Little Whinging, Surrey, correct?"

"Yes." Harry replied.

Following this, Fudge proceeded to ask Harry a bunch of yes or no questions, all of which he was forced to answer in the positive. Unfortunately for him, Harry was not given time to actually explain why.

"And yet, despite your previous warning, you _still_ cast a 'Stupefy' on the evening of the 18th of July?"

"Yes, but—"

"Knowing that Muggles could potentially see you?"

" _Yes_ ," Harry said, frustration finally leaking out into his voice, "but I didn't really have a _choice_ —"

"Pardon me, Minister Fudge for cutting into your interrogation" Madam Bones said, speaking up for the first time, "but I mush ask. Of all the spells you could cast, Mr. Potter why a Stupefy? That is a rather rudimentary spell, and from what I've heard, you are rather gifted at Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but before he could get so much as a syllable out, he was cut off by the witch sitting on the other side of Fudge.

"Hem hem."

"Would you like to add something Delores?" Mr Fudge asked, looking over at the toad like woman dressed in pink on his left.

"Well. I just thought it prudent to point out how _silly_ it would be to hear the boy give his excuses. We all already know how much of a trouble maker he has been since he first started Hogwarts…"

"Regardless of what he has or has not done at Hogwarts, Harry is not on trial for anything besides his recent casting of the Stupefy charm. Nothing that has happened at Hogwarts falls under the jurisdiction of this court." Dumbledore stated in a calm manner with a touch of finality.

Umbrige glared at him from her seat for the interruption, making her look even more toad like in appearance. " _As I was saying_ , due to his ill-behaved character, he will probably just lie and claim that he was being attacked by demeanors or something silly like that!" She finished her statement with a high pitched girly laugh.

Harry felt the air release from his lungs in a sudden instant. _She knew!_ She knew that he had been attacked by dementors, and she was baiting him! Well. He wasn't about to let her have that satisfaction. He knew if he lashed out now, there would be no way he could win his case. If there was anything that Strickler had taught him in sword fighting, it was to have patience and wait for the right moment to strike. Dumbledore also seemed to recognize what was going on— although Harry was pretty sure he didn't actually know about the dementors— as Harry noticed how his skin had seemed to suddenly gain a slightly lighter hue. It appeared as though he had just accidentally swallowed one of those lemon drops he was so fond of whole.

Taking a deep breath, Harry began quickly, before anyone could cut him off again. "If I had been attacked by dementors, I would have used a Patronus. As it were, I used the stupefy because someone was following me, and they had cornered me in a dark alley. I never saw their face, and didn't actually hit any—"

"So you are saying, that an unknown foe attacked you…" Fudge interrupted with the beginnings of a smirk. "No witnesses, not even an enemy you can actually name. And we are just expected to take your word for it?"

"If I may," Dumbledore said, finally speaking up, "Casting a spell in defense of one's self is completely legal under the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. And, as Madam Bones already pointed out, there is no viable reason for Harry, to cast a Stupefy otherwise. He is top in his class in Defense Against the Dark Arts— If need be, I can release his test scores to this body for proof… That said, there is scarcely any need for him to practice such a… _rudimentary spell._ Seeing as there were no muggles in the area, he can hardly be charged for a breach in the Statue of Secrecy. _"_

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore, " Madame Bones said cooly, "I agree that it seems unlikely that Mr. Potter would choose to practice a Stupefy of all spells… Did you imply that you could cast a Patronus, boy?"

Surprised to have all attention back on him, Harry could only blink. "Er—Yes, I can… It's a stag. Always a stag."

" _Always_ … When exactly did you learn to cast such a high level spell, boy?"

"Third year." Harry replied. "Professor Lupin taught me since the dementors that were at Hogwarts were effecting me so badly."

"I see…" Madame Bones said, letting her voice trail off in thought.

After that, the trial finished up rather quickly. With no true evidence to prove that he had done anything actually wrong, both Fudge and his undersecretary could hardly convict him of anything— try they did however, much to Harry's chagrin— and after a vote that went in favor of Harry, the charges were dropped on the account that the spell was more than likely cast in self defense.

Before Harry could even release a sigh of relief, the body of wizards were already clearing out. Harry turned to where Dumbledore had been seated next to him, surprised to find him already making his way towards the door. Harry stood quickly, making as if to follow Dumbledore, however, the professor had already made his way out the doors, disappearing into the swarm of cloaks, and leaving Harry frozen in place. After contemplating his next course of action, Harry briskly began weaving his way out the doors, hoping he would be able to spot someone he knew on the other side of the doorway that could take him back to Grimmauld Place.

To his surprise, Mr Weasley was still standing in the same place Harry had left him earlier that morning, looking exactly the same if not a bit more apprehensive.

"Are you—?"

"Cleared of all charges!" Harry grinned, letting himself get pulled into a hug by Mr. Weasley.

"Oh, good! I was a bit worried when I realized that the whole Wizengamot was going to by trying you; and for a simple underage hearing! Well, we'd best get you back. I'm sure everyone is dying to know the outcome!"

~x~

Harry returned to Grimmauld Place to find it amid a celebration. He had been dropped inside the door by Mr. Weasley, who had to go back to work.

He quickly surmised that Dumbledore had already sent back word to the others that he had been cleared. Surprisingly however, the elderly professor was no where to be seen. Harry didn't have too much time to ponder this as he was quickly surrounded by familiar faces sporting large grins.

"I knew everything would be okay!" Ron cheered, as he rushed up to Harry, with Ginny, Hermione and the twins hot on his tail.

"It's not like they _could_ have prosecuted him." Hermione said with a slight roll of her eyes. Despite this, a small grin adorned her face and the relief that was coming off the girl was almost palpable. Next to her, Ginny quietly beamed at Harry.

Tired of standing in the entrance hall, the twins finally stepped forward and engulfed him. They came up on either side of him and threw their arms around each of his shoulder. The twins then proceeded to push him to walk forward. The one on the left spoke, "Congrats Harry! We knew they couldn't expel you!"

As soon as they had maneuvered him into the eating room, the twins moved away from him, just in time for their mum to envelop him in a large bear hug. "Congratulations Harry." She said with a motherly smile, before gesturing to the table behind her. "Come sit down, you are just in time for lunch. You barely ate anything for breakfast after all!"

With a grin, Harry took a seat in the closest chair and took a sandwich from the stack of sandwiches that had been placed in the middle of the table. Across the table from him, bot Remus and Sirius sat, eating their own sandwiches. Sirius offered him a silly grin, while Remus, a soft smile, and both offered him their own congratulations.

After mowing down three sandwiches, Harry leaned back in his chair with a happy smile as he listened to all the happy voices chattering at the table. In that moment, he knew that no matter what the future held, everything was going to turn out alright.

In his pocket, the Amulet hummed in agreement.

.

.

.

.

.

 **AN** : Hope you guys enjoyed it! Just for fair warning, chapter 9 might be slightly delayed. I have a massive test this Wednesday that I am studying my butt off for, so I doubt I will even touch this story again until Thursday. I will try and get the chapter done by Sunday, but no promises.

Also, I was wondering about your opinions on romance? I have never written it before, and if I did add any, it would be more of a side thing than anything plot changing, but if I did add anything in, do you guys have any preferences on pairings? Personally, I'm not a fan of Ginny for Harry, but I'm also not totally against it if that is what everyone likes. Keep in mind that this story will also remain T, and not change ratings due to any added relationships. Anyway's, let me know!

 **EDIT (21/1/18) : So my testing got delayed due to illness and bad weather. I am stressed to the max right now with studying and now entertaining family who are coming into town and thus really have had no time to write or edit. Please excuse my lateness in uploading chapter 9. I promise it will be up no later than next weekend.**

Till next time!

~Dawn


	9. Hogwarts Bound!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in their sandbox.**

Welcome back to the story everyone! Sorry I was unable to post a chapter last weekend, my tests were pushed back, and my life got pretty hectic for a little while. The good news is that I passed all my testing and got the certifications I needed! Cheers! Now I have got a few months of less stressful time that I can devote to writing before I have any more major tests!

On another note, thanks for all the feedback! I have decided to simply let the story write itself when it comes to romance. That saying, I am not going to deliberately write it into the script, but if it seems to be going in that direction naturally, I will not fight it.

To the guest who informed me about the sentence I left hanging last chapter— thanks! I can't believe that I didn't spot that! Its fixed now.

Anyways, lets get right into the story!

.

.

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

 **Chapter 9:** _Hogwarts Bound!_

 _._

 _25th of July— Location: Leaky Cauldron_

.

"And what makes you think that you would make a good addition to the Hogwarts staff?" The white bearded man asked, as he peered at the much younger looking man sitting across from him over his half moon glasses. The crisp business suit adorning his younger companion looked strangely mundane when compared to the lavish purple robes that the elder was wearing.

The younger of the two took a sip from his cup of tea as he considered his response. Finally after a long moment, he set his cup down carefully on the saucer and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, after hearing that you had a few openings on your staff, I thought that it might be a good change of pace for me. I love teaching, after all, and after moving to the United Kingdom, I have yet to find a job where I feel I can truly be of worth— until now, that is."

Blue eyes twinkled back at him in response.

~x~

.

 _Present— Location: Grimmauld Place_

 _._

The next two weeks pasted in relative tedium for Harry. After the brief celebrations that followed Harry's trial, life seemed to return to the dull, repetitive way that it had been during Harry's first week at Grimmauld Place. He did still made sure to get some basic exercising in early in the morning, even if he was sure it didn't help him too much. After all, a few early morning sit-ups and push-ups just couldn't compare to the extensive physical and mental training that Stricklander had been putting him through earlier that summer.

It did make him feel better though.

Beyond that, Harry spent the majority of his time helping to clean the house under Mrs. Weasley's ever watchful eyes and playing games with Ron in his free time. There was, however a brief period, where he spent time revising his homework with Hermione— she had been pleasantly surprised to find that he had in fact done it earlier in the summer— while Ron used the both of them to complete his own. Ron, despite being the only one at that point that actually _needed_ to work on his summer work, had complained the entire time. And Hermione, ever the studious learner, never ceased to rebuke his attempts to procrastinate. The two still seemed to be a little cautious about what they said around Harry, and the seamless relationship that the three had always shared had not yet returned to what it once was, but Harry felt that it was definitely on the mend.

There had been some excitement a few days ago, when their Hogwarts letters finally came. Hermione— no surprise there— had been made fifth year Prefect, along with Ron— that was _a bit_ more surprising. Harry had been a bit put out that both his best friends had been awarded a badge, when he hadn't, but he did his best to ignore the trickling jealousy that seemed to circulate within his body whenever the badges were mentioned. Harry would be lying if he said he hadn't taken some pleasure out of Hermione assuming that the badge had been his instead of Ron's. It _did_ make more sense that he would be the Prefect rather than Ron, after all. Luckily, neither Hermione nor Ron had seemed to noticed the negative aura Harry must have been emitting regarding the badges, and he was grateful for that. After all, it wasn't them he was angry at regarding this… He just wanted to know why both Dumbledore and McGonagall had deemed him unworthy of the honor.

Harry had also been expecting that he would finally be able to escape Grimmauld Place for a short break in order to pick up his new school supplies. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that that had been a false hope. Instead, it was deemed unsafe for Harry to venture out into the open that was Diagon Alley, and thus, Mrs. Weasley, was sent to pick up his school supplies in his stead. Luckily, the day had finally come that Harry and his friends could leave the depressing house and make their way to Hogwarts once more.

"RON!" Mrs. Weasley's shout brought Harry back from his musings to the present. He were currently sitting on his bed, a packed trunk sitting in front of him as he watched Ron scurry around hastily packing his own hand-me-down trunk. "If you are not ready to go in _two minutes_ you are going to miss the train!"

"—FILTHY HALF-BREEDS! MUDBLOODS! IN THE HONORABLE HOUSE OF BLACK! HOW _DARE_ —!"

"Coming!" Ron shouted back over the now shouting painting of Mrs. Black, throwing the last few items he had yet to pack haphazardly on the top before cramming the trunk's lid shut. He forced the lock closed with an audible click before letting out a breath.

"Ready?" Harry asked with an amused grin as he stood and moved to pick up his own trunk. Luckily, it was the only thing he had to carry. After first year, he typically sent Hedwig to Hogwarts ahead of him. That way, she didn't have to stay in the somewhat small cage for the long trip and he attracted less attention while on the muggle side of King's Cross station. Harry had even had Sirius shrink Hedwig's cage to put in his trunk— not that he actually used it at all at Hogwarts.

"Yeah." Ron replied, grinning back. Together, the two boys made their way down to the bottom of the stairs where they found the rest of their group already ready to go.

"Oh good!" Mrs. Weasley cried as she saw the two of them. "Lets all get to the car now. Hurry everyone! We mustn't be late for the train!"

"FILTH! THERES FILTH IN MY HOUSE! GET OUT, GET OUT, GET—!"

Cringing at the near constant shrieking in the background, she began herding all of the children towards the door. Harry, using some of his Quidditch reflexes, managed to dodge her and after briefly setting down his trunk, moved over to Sirius to give his mournful godfather one last hug.

He truly felt bad for the man.

Despite any grudges he might have been holding from the summer of no contact— as he had begun to refer to it in his head— it was clear to him that Sirius was trying his best, and that the man was nearly going crazy from being cooped up in the horrible old house of his. While Sirius had seemed pretty chipper with all of his guests living in the house, Harry knew things would be very different with the coming of autumn. After all, with Harry himself along with all his fellow Hogwartians returning to school, and the Weasleys returning home, Sirius would be all alone again. Over the past few days this realization of their impending departure became apparent in Sirius' actions and mood.

While Harry would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little bit insulted by some of the things that had been said by Sirius in the past few days. He did on some level understand why Sirius was so quick to say things he might not have otherwise. After all, Harry had similarly been both imprisoned and abandoned at the Dursleys for the last 15 years of his life.

After a moment, Harry pulled away from the hug, raising his eyes to take in Sirius' dejected expression. "Are you sure you don't need me to come to the station with you? I'm sure nobody would give Snuffles a second glance."

"No Sirius!" Mrs. Weasley cut in from behind Harry, before he could reply. "We have already been over this! It is too dangerous. Dumbledore said you are not to leave this house!"

With a gloomy nod, Sirius conceded and took a step back, allowing those who were leaving more room to get past him and out the door with all their trunks.

Harry awarded Sirius one last smile as he picked his own trunk back up and started moving towards the door once more. "I'll write you Sirius, I promise! Stay safe!"

~x~

The small entourage made it to King's Cross station with minimal issues. As they entered Platform 9 ¾, their 'guards', who consisted of Mad-Eye, Tonks, Lupin and both adult Weasleys seemed to encircle the six students they were escorting to the train. Finally, they came to a halt right outside one of the entrances onto the train. Mrs. Weasley was the first to move, making sure to give goodbye hugs to all of her children.

"Well, it was nice meeting you guys!" Tonks said, as she let her eyes drift over the small group.

Harry smiled at the purple haired woman in response before being engulfed in a hug by Mrs. Weasley. While he wasn't her blood child, he supposed that she was the closest thing he had ever had as a mother… Even is she was a bit overbearing at times.

"Have a safe trip, all of you!" Lupin called from behind Mrs. Weasley as his soft eyes connected with Harry's.

"Keep Sirius company for me!" Harry returned, and Lupin dipped his head in acknowledgment.

The trains whistle blew in warning of its impending departure, sparking the group to break apart. Those who were returning to Hogwarts quickly hopped onto the train, while waving over their shoulders, and shouting their goodbyes one last time.

"Well, it was nice knowing you little people, but we are off to find Lee." Fred said, as both he and George began ambling down the train's corridor in the opposite direction. "Important business to discuss!"

"Shall we find a compartment for us then?" Harry asked as he turned to those remaining.

"Actually, Harry, we— Ron and I, that is— have to go with the other Prefects to the front of the train. There is a meeting, and then we might have to do something as Prefects" Hermione stated rather awkwardly. Ron shifted his gaze down.

"Right." Harry said, trying to keep his tone from leaking any negative emotions. He gave a grin, but he knew it didn't reach his eyes. "Maybe I'll see you guys later then?"

"Of course!" Ron spoke up, but kept his attention squarely on the floor. "It's not like I want to go patrol the hallways. I'd much rather hang with you! As soon as I can, I will make sure to come find you!"

"I'll be sure to save a seat then." Harry replied, working to keep his voice as light as possible. He watched as the pair began making their way towards the front of the train, and his smile dropped. This would be the first time he had ever ridden the train without Ron.

"Well should we get going then?" Ginny asked from his right, "We should probably start looking for a compartment if we want to find one with enough seats for them to join us later."

With that, the small redhead marched off, leaving Harry to trail behind.

It didn't take them too long to find a mostly empty compartment. Located near the back of the train, the pair found one which only contains two other individuals. Ginny stepped inside first.

"Hey Luna! Mind if we join?" Ginny chirped as she slid the door open. Peering over her shoulder, Harry saw that Neville, one of his year mates, and a peculiar blonde girl were the two currently inhabiting the compartment.

Said girl nodded as she patted the seat next to her. With a grin, Ginny quickly got to work stowing her trunk and then took a seat next to the girl. Harry followed suit, and stowed his trunk as well.

"Hey Harry!" Neville greeted as Harry worked to get his trunk into place.

"Hey Neville." Harry returned with a smile. "How was your summer?"

Neville nodded. "It was nice… I worked in the greenhouse for a lot of it! Oh! Look what I got for my birthday!" Neville quickly pulled out a rather ugly looking plant. "Its called _Mimbulus mimbletonia_. It's really rare!"

"That's cool Neville." Harry said, trying to sound at least a little interested. While he realized that Herbology was Neville's favorite subject, it was most certainly not Harry's.

"Wanna see something cool?" Neville asked, as he plopped Trevor, his toad, into Harry's lap. "Watch this!"

Before Harry had even blinked, the other boy had poked the plant with his quill, causing it to spray liquid from each of its many pores. In a matter of seconds, the entire compartment, and those within it were covered in sticky, smelly green liquid.

With a nervous chuckle, Neville lowered the hand that he had used to poke the plant, and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Er— Sorry about that… I didn't expect that much of a reaction."

"No problem." Ginny said, her still clean nose wrinkled due to the smell. She had been lucky to shield her face in time, unlike Harry. "Nothing a quick spell wont get rid of. Thank Merlin, we are able to use our magic again! _Scourgify!"_

The foursome make quick work of the mess with a couple more well placed spells. Unfortunately, a hint of the smell still seemed to permeate throughout the compartment.

As Harry was handing back a now clean Trevor to Neville, he felt the piercing stare of someone. Looking up, his eyes connected with the blonde girl who he had yet to be properly introduced to.

"You are Harry Potter." She stated, still not taking her eyes off of him.

"Er— yes." Harry answered awkwardly. He never knew how to respond to his fame in the wizarding world.

She still hadn't taken her eyes off of him, but she cocked her head in response. "You have had a recent run in with the truzlaners. My father and I have always wanted to meet one of those!" She said all of this without blinking and continued to stare at Harry.

"Um..?" Harry replied unintelligently, his eyes darted to the others for help.

"Don't mind her Harry, Luna sees the world in different ways than the rest of us." Ginny said helpfully, the redhead's eyes never looked up from the page she was reading out of the romance novel.

With a shrug, Harry looked back at Luna, only to realize that she had gone back to reading her newspaper.

Nearly two hours had passed before Harry saw Ron or Hermione again. The two bustled into the compartment and sat in the two empty seats. Ron next to Harry, and Hermione beside Ginny.

"Hey guys!" Ron said. "Man was that ever boring! We had to listen to the Head Boy and Girl drone on and on about the list of responsibilities we are required to do. And then we had to actually patrol. The only upside is that we get to dish out punishments! I can't wait until I can catch some Slytherins in the act! It will be awesome!"

"Ronald." Hermione began with a sigh. "You can't abuse your position by doing that! That is _exactly_ what the Head Boy was talking about this morning!"

Ron grumbled something under his breath, but otherwise did not respond.

"Anyways," Hermione continued, "while I suppose it is not that unexpected, the Slytherin prefects are Malfoy and that whiny Pansy Parkinson. I do _not_ look forward to working with them."

The train trudged along as the group of six continued to made small talk with each other to past the time. Once or twice, someone ducked their head into the compartment to say hello. The most notable to do this was Malfoy, who naturally had come to gloat over his new position. Luckily, he didn't stay long, nor did he succeed in punishing anyone in the compartment. That is not to say he didn't try, but with Hermione there to contest any attempts he made, he soon found himself with a lack of feasible reasons to give a detention. Pretty soon after that, Hermione began to pester them all to change clothes. About ten minutes after they had changed, the train finally began to slow down; its warning whistle blew to let all occupants onboard know that arrival was imminent. As everyone began to get ready to get off of the train, Ron and Hermione once again withdrew from the compartment, with the excuse that as Prefects, there were supposed to help out wherever they could.

As soon as the train's doors were opened, Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Luna made their way quickly towards the once horseless carriages— except, much to Harry's surprise, the carriages were not horseless anymore.

The creatures that Harry could now see hitched to the carriages looked like someone had bred a horse to a dragon. Their basic structure was horse like, except for the more dragon like faces and the large featherless wings sprouting from just below their withers. They were a leathery black in color and their coats were practically clinging to their skeletons, making Harry wonder briefly whether they were ever fed, or not. He quickly crossed off that thought, knowing Hagrid would never starve any creature under his care. The creatures in question stood utterly still, almost as if they had been frozen in time. Harry suppressed a shiver.

"What are those things?" He wondered aloud, his eyes not leaving the black dragon-horses.

"What things?" Ginny asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"The horse things. You know, pulling the carriages?"

"Er— Harry, nothing is pulling the carriages. It is the same as always." Ron said from behind him, causing Harry to jump slightly. Harry supposed that he had Hermione had finished their work as prefects and had caught up when he hadn't been paying attention.

Harry's forehead crinkled in confusion. "But they are right there! Can't you see them?"

"Don't worry, Harry. You are not going crazy. I can see them too." Luna gave him a smile before stepping into the carriage.

Harry shook his head slightly to clear it before following his friends into the carriage. Perhaps it was best he didn't dwell on this too much. After all, he was finally back at Hogwarts again.

He was _home_.

.

.

.

.

.

AN: So, I have read many 5th year HP stories, and they all seem to spend a lot of time with Harry at Grimmauld Place. Personally, i don't think that this period is much more than filler for this story, hence why I have sort of glazed over it. The plot really doesn't pick up until Hogwarts anyways.

Fun fact: that partially made up word, 'truzlaners', that Luna mentions, is derived from the word 'truzlan' which means 'creature that walks clumsily'. This word is Proto-Germanic, and it is speculated that this is where the word 'troll' might originate from.

Till next time!

~Dawn


	10. Surprise, Surprise!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Trollhunters, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in their sandbox.**

Whelp. Despite its short length, this chapter was harder to write that I had expected. I knew that I needed it for various reasons, but there are only a few things that needed to happen within it. Therein lay my problem of where to end it and how much it should actually contain. I hope it is better than I think it is.. As always, it is unbetaed so I'm sure I've managed to miss grammar errors. Let me know if you see them and I'll fix them ASAP!

Sorry this is a bit delayed… I sorta got sidetracked by a story idea that wouldn't leave me alone. The result of my distractions was posted earlier this week, if you want to check that out.

Anyways, lets get right into the story!

.

.

* * *

 **Harry Potter and the Glory of Merlin**

~x~

 **Chapter 10:** _Surprise, Surprise_

After a comparatively short carriage ride up to the main entry to Hogwarts, Harry and his friends followed the rest of their peers into the impeccably decorated Great Hall of Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly claimed their seats, sitting nearby to the rest of the year mates. Harry failed to notice some of the whispers and dirty looks being shot his way as he took in the sights of his home.

Oh how he had missed Hogwarts.

The Great Hall seemed especially beautiful that night. With all the decorations and floating candles lit to commensurate the start of the new year, Hogwarts was practically glowing. This was only highlighted by the crystal clear night sky that could be seen on the ceiling. Looking up, Harry could make out many of the constellations he had learned about in his Astronomy class. Pale ghosts hovered here and there as they chatted amiably with students and other ghosts alike. The four long House tables were slowly filling up as more and more students filled in through the doors. A sort of hum could be heard as all the students' — regardless of age and House— voices merged into a sort of incomprehensible background noice.

It truly was his home. Harry didn't know where he would be if not for the school. A lot more miserable, that's for sure. He figured that by now, the Dursley's would have found some way to get him to drop out of school, and he would be working at some fast food joint. They probably would have kicked him out by now too, if the wizards hadn't been breathing down their necks. Harry wasn't entirely sure if that last notion would upset him however. A life with no Dursleys— even one as pathetic as the one he had just thought up— was still a life with no Dursleys.

As for Hogwarts, the place seemed to hum with life; the very walls felt magical. Harry was certain that he couldn't be the only person who could feel it. In fact, now that he thought about it, it rather reminded him of the

"It seems we have two new teachers this year instead of one." Hermione mused from beside him. "I wonder who is teaching what. Obviously one of them is our Defense teacher. Hagrid is missing too. Did you notice that he wasn't the one calling for the first years this year?"

"Huh." Harry acknowledged as he followed Hermione's gaze up to the head table. Harry's eyes surveyed the teachers, most of which he recognized, even if he had not had any classes with a few of them. His eyes finally stopped on a woman sitting primly towards the end.

' _That's the woman from the trial!'_ Harry thought with a small amount of shock. Sure enough, the woman was even wearing the same outrageously pink robes that she had been sporting at the trial less than a month ago. The only difference that Harry could note was that her already smug face was pinched in a way that made her look even more toad-like in appearance. Harry suppressed a shudder before he allowed his eyes to drift to the seat on the left of toad-face.

If the woman's appearance had taken him by surprise, the man sitting next to her made his mouth drop open in shock. Sitting next to her— and talking amiably, Harry noted with no small amount of disgust— was none other than Stricklander.

' _What is he doing here?!'_ Harry wondered. From the lessons he had had with the man, er.. troll, and the few he had had with Blinky, Harry knew that the trolls had not been in contact with the wizards since around the time of Merlin, and even then, their contact was somewhat discouraged. So what was a _changeling_ doing in a wizarding school? It wasn't like he could teach any wizarding classes. Harry knew for a fact that Stricklander couldn't use a wand. Heck, he had never even _seen_ a wand before Harry had shown his to him one day.

"You alright Harry?" Hermione asked breaking his line of though. Snapping his still gaping mouth closed, Harry turned his attention towards the girl sitting on his right.

"Er, yeah." He flicked his eyes back up to the head table, and they momentarily connected with Stricklander's. Harry could see the his lips slightly curve upwards in amusement as Stricklander raised an eyebrow before turning his attention back to his conversation with toad-face.

He was _enjoying_ this.

"Th-that's the woman from my trial…" Harry continued lamely. "I wonder what she is doing here."

"Oh!" Hermione stated, surprised. Her gaze also shifted up to the head table as she took another glance at the woman. "That is odd. We have never had a ministry official join us for dinner before. I wonder who the man next to her is."

"He seems kinda chummy with the toad-woman," Ron chimed in, saving Harry from having to answer. Ron's nose was wrinkled in slight distaste. "Maybe they are work buddies!"

"That is not a very nice thing to call her, Ronald!" Hermione corrected somewhat automatically, "Although you are not wrong. They do seem to be getting along rather well! Well, if they are not teachers, I wonder who is teaching DADA. They are the only two new faces sitting up there."

Before their conversation could continue, the first years had finally arrived and the sorting began. Besides clapping when the rest of the Gryffindors clapped, Harry did not pay that much attention to the sorting. Instead, he directed his attention to trying to figure out what Stricklander was doing at Hogwarts. Since that first time, Stricklander had not again made eye contact with Harry.

Perhaps, Stricklander was here for him?

The idea had merit, Harry supposed, but Harry rather disliked thinking that everything had to be about him. Though, it really was the only basic reason he could think for the changeling's sudden appearance. After all, Harry had only trained with the Amulet for a measly few weeks, it would make sense that the trolls would be looking to continue training their champion.

Harry had kinda hoped that he could continue his training with the amulet at Hogwarts. He had actually intended to train himself, however, it would be far easier to make sure that he was not learning any bad habits if he had someone guiding his training. It would be awesome to actually be able to incorporate magic into his fighting style. That was something that he and the changeling had discussed, but never been able to actually put into practice since Harry was underage. Now that he was back at Hogwarts, he could legally use his wand again.

But that still didn't explain what he was doing currently— or even _how_ , for that matter Stricklander had managed to get himself into a wizarding school… Couldn't the changeling just meet him in the Forbidden Forest a few nights a week or something to that effect? It was clear that he was capable of getting on the schools grounds after all.

Finally, the long line of first years disappeared as the last ones finally joined their new houses and Dumbledore rose to feet. Any murmurs that had still been taking place among the four houses fell silent as all eyes fell on the aged professor before them.

"To our newcomers," Dumbledore said, beginning his speech with a benign smile, "welcome! And to our older students and professors, welcome back! Now tuck in!"

And on that note, there was an array of rich food that suddenly appeared on the tables before him. Harry could almost hear the tables groan as the sudden weight of food was placed upon them. He busied himself with piling food onto his plate in order to distract him with everything that was going on.

All throughout dinner, and then dessert, his housemates engaged in small talk about this and that. Harry himself attempted to join in a few times, but for the most part, he was too distracted by the changeling's appearance and what it could mean for him. He had noticed both Hermione and Ron throwing concerned looks his direction for the duration of their meal, but he couldn't be bothered to respond to their worry. Harry didn't even know why he was so worried.

After all, he _liked_ Stricklander. Actually, Stricklander rated as one of his favorite adults. Not that there was a lot of competition, but still! Harry just couldn't shake the feeling that the changeling being there was only going to make his life that much more interesting… and after his last four years at Hogwarts, Harry was pretty sure he had had enough interesting to last a lifetime.

Maybe Harry was just kidding himself. After all, he didn't need the _trolls_ interference to make any given year at Hogwarts _exciting_.

Deep in his heart, Harry knew why the changeling's appearance had thrown him for such a loop. Before the trolls had entered his life, Harry had already lived two separate lives; his relatives 'no good nephew', and the wizarding world's savior. While he loved the wizards, and wanted nothing more to join his godfather, Sirius, as a part of the wizarding world fully, he was old enough to understand that that was not likely to happen.

No, he was going to be stuck as a part of both worlds, but never fully belonging to either. He was used to being shuffled between both worlds. This had become the new norm for him. Not being allowed to talk about his adventures in the wizarding world to the muggles, and not being able to talk about his summers in the muggle world, due to the wizards not understanding… that was normal.

And then the trolls had come, and disrupted his entire concept of normality.

Suddenly, he was juggling three identities. But it was okay, because the trolls followed the same rules that the other two societies had already set up for him: _keep our secrets; don't let anyone know we exist_. And the same situation for Harry continued. Here he was, again, a very prominent figure for yet _another_ secret society, and still feeling like he was only looking in through the window.

He wasn't stupid.

Harry knew that the trolls would not want anything to do with him if not for the Amulet that was currently residing in his pocket.

But now?

It seemed that two of his identities were crashing together.

And Harry didn't know how to deal with that.

"Now if I could have your attention." Dumbledore called out as he stood, breaking Harry from his thoughts. All around, the last remnants of food began to clear from the tables.

"I would first like to point out to our new students that the Forbidden Forest is, in fact forbidden, as I'm sure our older students should be well aware of by now. Second, lists of banned items and rules are posted in each of your common rooms. Please be sure to check them if you are ever uncertain.

"I'd also like to welcome two new professors to our staff this year. Professor Umbridge will be taking over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Strickler will be taking over the Muggle Studies class for Professor Burbage, who has decided to retire for personal reasons. Also, Professor Grubbly-Plank will be temporarily be taking over for Professor Hagrid…"

Harry felt his breath catch. ' _Muggle Studies! How in Merlin's name did he manage that?'_

It did make a lot of sense, Harry mused when he thought about it. It was the only teaching position on Hogwarts staff that really didn't require an ounce of magic.

Too bad Harry didn't actually take the class.

It would be tricky for him to get close to Stricklander without raising any suspicion.

" _Hem, hem._ " Dumbledore's speech was cutoff as he turned his head towards the pink toad masquerading as a professor. Taking his surprised pause, as an opening, the witch started speaking in her girlish squeaky voice. If Harry hadn't already decided that he disliked her, he was pretty sure he would now. "Thank you Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome! I am so thrilled that I get to know all of you. I am sure we will all be the best of friends!"

Her speech continued, but Harry started tuning her out. There was only so much of her girly patronizing tone that he could take. He did hear, however that her being here had something to do with the Ministry of Magic wanting influence in Hogwarts, however he had already figured that out before hearing the toad speak.

As her speech finally wrapped up, a few of the students clapped, though if Harry had to wager, he would assume that they were more clapping because she had finally stopped talking rather than due to the contents of her speech. The professors at the head table also clapped, but none were that enthusiastic. Harry even noted that a few of the professors only brought their hands together once before replacing them on their laps.

" _Teaching_! Of all the disrespectful..!" Hermione muttered angrily under her breath.

Ron looked confused. "What?"

"Weren't you listening?"

"Listening? Are you kidding?" Ron snorted. "That has to be the most boring speech that I've ever heard! I think I stopped paying attention after she started claiming we would 'all be friends'."

"Honestly." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. However, she didn't look like she blamed him. "She was basically saying that the Ministry is going to interfere with Hogwarts. It probably has to do with the Minister's determination to deface Dumbledore. We will all have to tread carefully this year. You especially, Harry."

Harry nodded seriously. He had already figured that much. All around them, students began shuffling and moving towards the doors.

He glanced up once more towards where Stricklander had been seated, only to find the man already turned his back and was walking towards one of the back doors. With a sigh, he began to get up and make his way out of the Great Hall.

"Well, we had better be off. We need to help guide the new first years." Hermione said.

Ron blinked. "Oh. Right!"

"See you later then." With that, Harry made his way out of the Great Hall, alone. He tried his best to ignore all of the pointing and staring being directed his way. He wasn't sure whether it was due to the events of last year, the newspapers Hermione had mentioned back at Grimmauld Place talking crap about him, or just his own fame causing his unwanted attention. Honestly, at this point, Harry just didn't care.

He'd deal with it all in the morning.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry again for the wait. However, I think my updates are not going to be as frequent any more. I have pretty much decided to continue my second story, "What Went Wrong" so I am going to have my time divided between both stories from now on.

On a completely different hand, I have opened a poll on my profile for said other story. I don't know if anyone here is actually reading that story, but I'd appreciate any participation I can get for that poll. It will really help me hash out the last minor plot details.

Till next time!

~Dawn


End file.
